


Doctor Manhattan .

by thelastflightshome



Category: Hart of Dixie
Genre: Alternate Universe - Doc Hollywood (1991), F/M, annabeth and wade are a duo we should've gotten and i will die on that hill, wade is a nyc doctor who came to bluebell on accident, will they or won't they - trope, zoe is a single mom / bartender / country gal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:54:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27599204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelastflightshome/pseuds/thelastflightshome
Summary: He wasn’t supposed to be in Alabama, he was supposed to be in Pensacola, in Florida. He was planning to practice plastic surgery down on the gulf coast. He was driving his Classic Chevy Camaro from Manhattan to Pensacola. Knowing it was risky to drive a classic that far, he had made sure it would last the entirety of his trip.And it did. Or it did until he was swerving on the road to avoid hitting an animal (was - was that an alligator?) slamming on his breaks way too late, ending up crashing into a fence, avoiding hitting someone by mere inches.
Relationships: Lavon Hayes/Annabeth Nass (mentioned), Lemon Breeland/George Tucker (mentioned), Wade Kinsella & Annabeth Nass, Zoe Hart/Wade Kinsella
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so doc hollywood is one of my favorite michael j fox films. as soon as i had heard of hart of dixie, my first thought was "oh like doc hollywood!" 
> 
> after binging the show and falling for zade, this idea came about. hope you enjoy.

Doctor Manhattan. 

Doctor Wade Kinsella was having a great day. 

The key word there? Was. Because now? His day fucking sucked. He was in the middle of this weird-ass backwards town in Alabama. 

He wasn’t supposed to be in Alabama, he was supposed to be in Pensacola, in Florida. See, Wade had been working in New York Presbytrian Hospital for years now, working in the ER and running around like a chicken with its head cut off. But he was giving it up to practice plastic surgery down on the gulf coast. It was easy work, and well, Wade kind of wanted easy work. At least for now. He was looking forward to the South, to live it up in the sun on the beaches and see the beautiful people this side of the country had to offer. 

He was driving from Manhattan to Pensacola - it would only take about a day or two, if he stopped every once in a while. He was excited to be driving his Chevy Camaro the whole way down. It had it’s problems, of course, it was an old vehicle. But it was a classic and Wade made sure it would last the entirety of his trip. 

And it did. Or it did until he was swerving on the road to avoid hitting an animal (was - was that an alligator?) slamming on his breaks way too late, ending up crashing into a fence, avoiding hitting someone by mere inches. 

“My car! My car, my car, oh God. Oh shit.” He’s gasping as he jumps out of the driver’s seat, fretting over the car and the damage done to it. His car is smoking, the wood of the fence is all over the place.

“Your car? What about my fence?” An auburn haired woman wearing paint splattered overalls exclaimed, hands on her hips. 

“Your fence isn’t a 1969 Chevy! Just get a new one put up - I’m sure my insurance company will pay for the damage.” Wade waved her off, or at least he tried to, examining the damage done. God damn, he wouldn’t be able to make it to Pensacola in this car now - he still had over an hour to go.

“Excuse me? I can’t just get a new one put up! I’ve been working on this one for weeks now, and you had to go and ruin it, for what? Hm?” She squints at him, looking at him expectedly, waiting for an answer. 

“For your information, there was an animal in the road. I would’ve killed it if I didn’t crash into your stupid fence.” Wade stares at her, patting his pockets to find his wallet. “Look, lady, it was an accident. Nobody’s fault, nobody got hurt -” 

“Nobody’s fault?” The woman raises her eyebrows. She and Wade stare at each other for a good minute before he lets out an exasperated sigh. 

“Fine! Alright, I admit it, okay?! I flattened your fence! What are you gonna do? Lock me up?” He asks angrily. She seems to think about it. And then she’s grabbing hold of his arm, pulling him down the street. 

“Woah, woah, woah, what are you doing? Where are you taking me? Let me go!” He could easily rip out of her hold, but he didn’t exactly want to hurt her, and he was already in trouble with her for knocking down her fence. So Wade got ignored as she pulled him down side streets, ending up on Main Street and into what appeared to be the Attorney's Office. 

“AnnaBeth - What happened? Who’s your friend?” A man dressed in casual office wear and a tie, blonde and well built, stepped out from behind his desk to go up to the lady - AnnaBeth - and Wade. 

“This - this guy ran over my fence!” She yelled. Wade finally pulled out of her hold, huffing as he pulled his arm to his side and away from her. 

“The fence you’ve been putting together for weeks now?” George asked, sincerely concerned. Wade looked up at the ceiling, sighing - If there was a God up there, he was laughing at Wade right now. 

“Yes!” 

“I told you, lady, my insurance company would pay for the fence, I’ll find a mechanic for my car, and sooner than later I’ll be out of your hair.” Wade cut in, frustration clear in his face. 

“It’s not the same! I built that fence by myself! Neither you, or your insurance can repay me for a fence I had built myself.” AnnaBeth cried, clearly standing her ground. She wasn’t going to budge and well, Wade didn’t want to either. “The next best thing would be you building the fence by yourself.” 

“Are you kidding? These hands are delicate instruments, I’m a surgeon.” Wade shakes his head. George stands between them, watching them go back and forth with each other. 

“I doubt you can build a good fence anyway.” AnnaBeth huffs. Wade scoffs and shakes his head. 

“This is crazy. This place is ridiculous.” Wade says to no one in particular, but it’s George who speaks up. “It’s not ridiculous - It’s Bluebell.” 

“What?” “Bluebell. That’s the town you're in. Bluebell, Alabama. I’m George Tucker - town attorney.” He sticks out his hand for Wade to shake. Wade stares for a second before he shakes hands with the guy. 

“Doctor Wade Kinsella.” Wade introduces himself.

“You’re from New York, aren’t you?” George can’t help himself from asking. 

“How can you tell?”  
“Your accent.”  
“My accent? Brother, you should hear yours!”  
“I used to live in New York, too. What area are you from?”

Wade felt like laughing, but AnnaBeth butts her head in again. 

“Nice for y’all to be catchin’ up, but I got a fence that’s ruined out there. George Tucker, I would like to sue Doctor Kinsella for ruinin’ my property.” AnnaBeth says matter of factly. Wade blinks. 

“AB, I’ve got a better idea.” George has a funny look on his face. “You’re a doctor, right? See, it just so happens one of our town doctors passed away recently, the practice is really behind and the people are sufferin’ like you wouldn’t believe.” 

Wade frowns. “No, no, no. I’ve got to be in Florida in two days, I’ve got a job set up -” 

“Just cover here for fourteen hours.” “Thirty six.” AnnaBeth adds. 

“Cover here for thirty six hours.” George corrects. Wade looks between them for a few seconds. 

“You want me to take over your practice for thirty six hours, then leave. You don’t want me to pay for your fence?” He asks, just to clarify. 

“Yes. That’s exactly it. You taking care of our town for that time is the perfect sentence for the crime you’ve committed.” AnnaBeth decides. 

“What about your fence?”

“The office needs your help. As long as you’re doin’ time for what you did, I will survive. And the fence will turn out better this time - I was thinking of re-doin’ it anyway.” AnnaBeth finally offers a small smile. George nearly laughs. Wade looks up at the ceiling once more. God - whatever joke you were playing on him - it wasn’t funny. 

“What about my car?” “Wally’ll take a look at it.” George shrugs. 

AnnaBeth seems happy about this predicament, George is glad he doesn’t have to draw up any papers. And Wade is less than happy now that he couldn’t get to Florida as soon as he wanted to. George suggests Wade go to the mayor’s plantation house, there’s room for him to stay there, and that he’ll give the mayor a call to let him know he’s on his way. Wade walks, using the directions George had written down for him, and he sighs. 

At least he’ll have a warm bed to sleep in tonight. 

Mayor Lavon Hayes is a sight Wade is surprised to see - A former NFL Player was the town’s mayor? You really couldn’t make this shit up. At least, Wade didn’t think so. It seemed like a place out of the movies, unreal. But it’s real, he’s pinched himself multiple times just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. 

Wade was dreaming as soon as his head hit the pillow in the gate-house. It was a small place, a little dusty and clearly unused, but Wade was only staying a few days. He could deal with it for a few days. 

He’s sleeping heavily, exhausted from the day’s events. He dreams of the beach, his toes in the sand, the sun shining down on him. He can see the water - clear blue, unlike the beaches in New York. He can see people playing in the waves, building castles, listening to loud music. The music is really loud - BUMPBUMPBUMP. 

God, why was it so loud? 

BUMPBUMPBUMP.

“Wade! Doctor Kinsella, it’s Mayor Hayes!” Wade’s eyes shoot open wide and he realizes that that wasn’t music, it was the Mayor knocking on the door of the gate house. Wade rubs his face and shifts out of bed, wrapping the comforter around him as he goes to answer the door. 

“Mornin’ Mayor.” Wade says through sleep, the bright light causing him to squint. 

“Doc, I was gonna offer to take you down to the Rammer Jammer for breakfast, how about it? Can’t head to work on an empty stomach, can you?” The mayor smiles bright, his teeth perfectly white and straight, kind eyes looking at Wade with such sincerity and Wade would feel bad saying no to him. After all, the mayor was letting Wade stay in his house for the time being. 

“Alright, let me get dressed.”

Wade lets the mayor come in, leaving the door to the gate house open as he goes into the bathroom to wash up and pull some clothes on. He is expecting to go to the town’s practice today, so he decides to wear some brown khaki pants and a crisp white button-down, deciding some loafers would be fine. If he was staying in town for leisure, he’d opt for a pair of jeans and bright, expensive sneakers. But he was being forced to work to pay for his stupid accident. The rest of the world did not work in the same way Bluebell did - Wade is sure of that. 

He’s got the bathroom door closed, but he could still hear everything outside of it. As he’s putting some styling-clay onto his hand to run through his hair, he hears a woman yelling somewhere on the plantation property. 

(As a northerner, Wade didn’t love the idea of anybody living on a plantation, or the idea of a plantation still standing, at that. But he’d chalk that up to cultural differences, because the people down here didn’t seem to have any problem with it.) 

“Elizabeth! Elizabeth, I swear to God and everything holy!” This woman is yelling, her voice clearly frustrated. 

He hears tiny footsteps outside the door and Lavon starts to speak. 

“Lizzy, no -” 

And the bathroom door swings open, startling Wade a little bit more than he’d like to admit, and a little girl is standing on the other side. She lets out a shriek, which Wade returns. She laughs then. She’s got to be around four - big curious green eyes, shoulder-length light brown hair. She’s in overalls and dirty sneakers.

“Who are you?” She demands, staring up at him. 

“Uh. I'm Wade. Who are you?” 

Lavon moves to scoop the little girl into his arms, tossing her over his shoulder. 

“Lizzy Loralee, now what did I say ‘bout running off from your momma like that? You hear her yellin’, don’t you? Shoot, I bet the whole town hears her yellin’ for you! You can’t be fightin’ your momma about goin’ down to the church no more! She’s gotta go to work!” Lavon lectures, patting the girl on her bottom once before putting her down on the ground. Lizzy pouts. 

“Uncle ‘von, I wanna stay with you!”   
“Now, now, Lizzy, you know I’d love you to be hangin’ around me all day. But I got important mayoral duties to take care of, you know that.” 

“Lavon, have you seen Lizzy?” The woman’s voice was close now, much closer to the gate house than before. 

“She’s in here, Big Z.” Lavon pokes his head out the doorway and waves her over. Wade washes the styling clay off of his hand, deciding his hair looked decent. He finally steps out of the bathroom and Lizzy moves to hide behind his legs. 

“Hey, come on.” Wade glances at her, trying to reach her arm to get her from hiding behind him. He didn’t know the kid at all, and while he was always down to help cause some mischief, he was sure her mother wasn’t going to be happy to find her hiding with some stranger. 

And then she comes in, sucking all the air out of Wade’s lungs. He’s seen beautiful women, of course he has. But she...She was different. In her denim short shorts and cowgirl boots, halfway buttoned up red flannel (the amount of cleavage shown wasn’t too much, but enough to keep him curious about what else was underneath that shirt). She had big brown eyes, huge and doe-like, pretty thin pink lips. She was gorgeous, stunning. 

“Elizabeth Loralee Hart, I am going to count to five and you are going to be at my side.” She says with determination, Wade almost feels like walking up to her like he was the one who was in trouble. 

It’s all quiet as the woman starts her count, the awkward tension between the adults (more specifically Wade) present. Around the number three, Wade looks at the little girl, tapping her arm ever so gently. 

“I think you should probably go over to your mom - She doesn’t look too happy.”

And slowly, with a loud and unhappy groan, the little girl goes over to her mother. 

“Alright, come on, I’ve gotta get you down to the daycare at church. Mrs. Mayfair is bringing those frosted animal crackers you like so much, you don’t want to miss out on those, do you? And now I’ve got to call Wanda and tell her what a thorn in my side you’ve been this morning, girl. You know how upset she gets when I’m late.” The woman holds onto the little girl’s hand, starting to lead her out of the gate house. 

“Uh, Z! Zoe, hey, you didn’t let me introduce you.” Lavon raises his voice enough that the woman turns around, her long brown curls bouncing as she twists her head. 

“Sorry. This one has got my head in a tizzy.” She smiles sheepishly. Wade can’t help the smile on his lips either. 

“Zoe, this is Doctor Wade Kinsella. He’s from New York, just passin’ through on his way to Florida. He’s coverin’ some time at the practice for the next couple’a days.” Lavon tells her. As Wade sticks out his hand, the smile falls from her face. 

“I’m Zoe. See you around.” She says shortly, picking up her daughter and hurrying off. 

“Something I said?” Wade asks, blinking as he looks at the Mayor. 

Lavon sighs. “Nope. Nothin’ on your part. Come on, man, let’s go get you some breakfast at the Rammer Jammer.” 

On the way to the local restaurant, Wade learns from Lavon a little bit about Zoe. It turned out that her father, Harley Wilkes, used to be one of the town doctors. He passed away recently. With his passing, his partner Brick Breeland had mostly taken over the practice completely - up until last month, when he decided he was going to take an early retirement. Nobody should call him unless it was an absolute emergency. So the town had been suffering quite a bit. 

Zoe was the manager and bartender at the Rammer Jammer, having come in after bringing her daughter to the daycare at church. 

“She married?” Wade asked, nonchalantly as he could while pushing around his grits on the plate. Lavon gave him a funny look. 

“Doc, you’re only passin’ through. Don’t need you gettin’ all up in Zoe’s business and makin’ her hurt once you high-tail outta here into the big city. I ain’t sayin’ you can’t talk to her, but I don’t suggest you try n’ date her. After all, you’re only here for -” The mayor pauses, checking his watch. “Twenty-eight more hours. Don’t start nothin’ you ain’t lookin’ to finish.” 

“No, Mayor, I’m gonna be here for a few days. I’ve gotta be working in your doctor’s office for thirty six hours. I didn’t even get there yet.” Wade shoves a fork-full of scrambled egg into his mouth. They were better than grits, something Wade wasn’t sure he’d ever like. “Besides, I was just curious. Noticed she had a kid - no ring, that’s all.” 

“Not married, not seein’ anyone. Zoe’s a workin’ girl, doc. No time for dating.” Lavon waves him off and takes a long sip of coffee. 

Entering the practice, Wade isn’t exactly sure what to expect. But it’s definitely not a waiting room full of people. And the auburn haired lady behind the receptionist desk. 

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. You work here?” Wade sighs. AnnaBeth offers a polite smile, one Wade is sure is forced. 

“Good morning to you too, Doctor Kinsella. Word spread there was a doctor in town and everyone just had to come down and see you for themselves.” AnnaBeth tells him. Wade nods. 

“There’s some scrubs in the closet back there. I’ll get a patient set up in the exam room for you.” She points and Wade moves to dig through the closet. He dresses and he’s heading into the exam room right away. 

Most of the people are coming to him for little things - rashes easily cured with cortisone cream, cuts covered with bandaids, sore throats. Nothing he couldn’t easily fix. A few come to him out of curiosity, there to ask all sorts of questions. How long was he staying? Where was he going? Where was he from? Where did he go to school? Was he married? Was he looking to be married? Was he from a family of doctors? 

Endless pestering, but Wade works his way through the waiting room and after two in the afternoon, AnnaBeth knocks on the door. 

“Bought you some coffee from the ButterStick.” She holds out the to-go cup. Wade takes it graciously, mumbling his thanks. 

She doesn’t leave right away, so he looks at her with a little confusion. 

“Can, uh, can I help you with anything?” He asks hesitantly. 

“Nope. Just thought I’d take another look at you - townsfolk think you’re a god-send. You still look like a regular joe to me.” AnnaBeth tells him. “One who ruins fences and can’t drive a car properly. But, still, pretty ordinary.” 

Wade snorts into his coffee cup. “I’ll be out of your hair by the end of the week, AB. Don’t worry about me staying over here.” 

“You staying may not be a bad thing for us, though. I mean, these people have been waiting for a doctor for weeks now. Dr. Breeland’s a good one, but he just don’t wanna be bothered in his old age, I guess. And there’s only so much I could do for them --” AnnaBeth goes on, but Wade cuts her off. 

“Hold on, hold on, you’re caring for patients? You’re a receptionist, now don’t take this the wrong way but you shouldn’t be taking care of patients just ‘cause you’re the only one in the doctor’s office.” Wade shakes his head. She stares at him. 

“Oh, you think I’m just a receptionist? Doctor, I am a nurse. Nurse AnnaBeth Nass, okay?” She drops a bunch of over-stacked files onto the exam table, shooting him a dirty look. “If you get the chance to get your head out of your behind sometime today, look here at your patient files. Get to know the people you’re working with. I’m taking off the rest of the day, obviously you won’t be needing me.” 

She turns and leaves Wade feeling stupid. He scoffs a little bit, because well, how was he supposed to know? 

He drops into the rolling chair, digging his phone out of the pockets of his green scrubs. He hadn’t had any good reception here, at all. Not in the gate-house, not in the plantation, not the office. It was brutal. Not that he was glued to his phone all the time, but, it was useful. Especially when you were a doctor. What if one of his patients in Manhattan had a follow-up question? 

He shakes his head, wiping the idea from his mind. No, if they had a question, they would be referred to one of his co-workers. He wasn’t working in New York anymore, he was going to be working in Florida. Plastic surgery. And it was going to be great. Easy. Not too many complications. Facelifts. Botox. Implants. Liposuction. He could do it in his sleep. Well, he could if he got a good look at the patient first. Then he could do it in his sleep. 

Wade leaves the exam room, deciding since AnnaBeth wasn’t going to play receptionist anymore, he might as well stand in in case there was anybody looking for a doctor. When he sits in the big cushy chair behind the front desk, he lets out a sigh. It’s been hours, but it feels like decades. Time was moving slower than ever. He looked at the digital clock placed on the desk, between files, AnnaBeth’s notepad, and a calendar. It wasn’t even close to 3’oclock yet. 

Suddenly, his phone, which he placed on the desk starts buzzing like crazy. Who would’ve guessed it? The one spot he gets reception was right in the front office. Where he spends the least time. 

DR JENNINGS - Hope you got to Florida safely! We miss you in the ER already 

RIVER - forgot you left and bought an extra coffee this morning. more for me!

KYLE - so i’ve heard florida bagels are garbage. Sending a dozen from Best’s to ur new place

AMY - call me when you’re back in nyc xo

The last text is definitely a booty-call from a girl he hasn’t slept with in a few weeks now, but the rest are from friends and Wade can’t help but to smile. He had good friends back in the city, and part of him felt bad leaving them behind. But he had a nice opportunity here and he wasn’t planning to pass it up. Not just because he had friends. He could always make some new ones. 

His phone lights up again with the name JESSE flashing across it. Crap, it was his brother. 

They weren’t necessarily close. They used to be close, when their mom was still alive. But then their mom passed away and Jesse ran out as fast as he could, leaving Wade to figure everything out on his own. He was a teenager when she died, he could take care of himself now, but he didn’t expect to be abandoned completely by his brother. It was like whiplash. 

Jesse and Wade were on two different planets, no matter how many qualities they shared. Maybe that was why they butted heads a lot. Jesse had been in the military, he was determined and strong and had charm. He jumped around a lot after finishing his service, never really sticking in one place. And never sticking to one girl, either. 

With a sigh, Wade picked up the phone. “Hey Jesse.”

“Wade, where are you? I’m in town, thought we could meet up for a beer tonight. I’ll buy.” Jesse sounds like he’s in a sea of people, talking loud to get his voice heard. 

“I’m - Jess, I told you, I’m moving. I’m not in the apartment anymore.” Wade rolls his eyes. A patient walks into the office and Wade holds up a hand, mouthing that he’d be right with the older man. 

“You’re not? Oh, man, I totally forgot. You’re in Florida, right? Plastic surgery gig?” Jesse says, mumbling that he was sorry for bumping into someone under his breath. Wade hears honking and yelling in the background, good old New York City. 

“There’s been a mistake at the DMV, they say I need a new eye exam before they renew my license.” The old man announces to Wade. “But my eye-sight is perfect - you can just sign off on this sheet, doctor.” 

“One second.” Wade tells him, bracing a smile before he goes to talk to his brother. “Yeah, see, about that. I was on the way to Pensacola, where the job is, and I ended up getting into a little....predicament. I’m fine, I’m not hurt or anything. But I’m stuck in Alabama.” 

As Wade explains, the patient begins to read off the eye-chart on the wall behind Wade, with one hand covering his right eye. And he does it again, covering his left eye. Wade really should’ve been giving him a proper exam, really paying attention. But instead he’s listening to Jesse yap. 

“Alabama? Wade, you’re in Alabama? What the hell happened? How’d you get stuck there? Is the car okay?” Jesse shoots off the questions. “Man, I can’t picture you in Alabama! Of all places. What town are you in? You’re close to Florida?” 

Wade decides - what the hell? This patient recited the eye-chart perfectly. No question about it. So he takes a black pen and signs off on it, deciding that this was the least of his problems right now. He could just sign off on the paper, get the man out of the office. 

“Here - you’re all set.” “Thank you, Doctor.” 

Wade watches him go before he plops down in his seat again. 

“The car is busted. I crashed it into a fence. And instead of letting me pay for it, or my insurance company pay for it, they got me this gig. I’m covering their local doctor’s office for -” He pauses, looking at the digital clock. “- for about thirty more hours. It’s so backwards.” He shrugs. 

“What town did you say you were in?” 

“I didn’t say. But I’m in Bluebell. It’s like, an hour away from Pensacola. I was so close, dude.” Wade laughs bitterly. He still hears all the commotion in the background but no Jesse speaking. “Jess?” He tries, wondering why his brother wasn’t speaking. 

“Wade, you said you’re in Bluebell? Bluebell, Alabama?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah, yeah. Bluebell. Blue, like the color. And bell, like the instrument.” Wade considers spelling it out for him, but he thinks his brother isn’t that dumb. 

“Dude, are you serious?” 

“No, Jess, I’m joking. Of course I’m serious - why would I lie about being in Alabama?” He rolls his eyes again. A habit, whenever he spoke to his brother. His mother used to say his face would get stuck like that. 

“Wade, that’s where our dad is. Our dad’s in Bluebell, Alabama.” Jesse says, his voice oddly calm, like he was talking to a hurt animal. 

“Our…” Wade blinks. Their dad? The one that his mother couldn’t stand taking care of anymore and sent packing? The deadbeat that never even sent him a christmas card, or called him on his birthday? The one who walked out of their lives without looking back? “Shit. What are the fuckin’ chances?” He glances to the ceiling. 

“Small world.” Jesse comments.

Wade takes in a breath, his brain in a million places at once. DId he find his father? Did he even want to find his father? He hasn’t seen the guy since he was a month old, so it’s not like they ever had a relationship to begin with. He wasn’t sure who he really was, or if it was even worth trying to find out. 

“I’ve got a patient waiting on me. Talk to you later, Jess.” Wade finally gets out and hangs up the phone, not wanting to deal with it any longer. No, he wasn’t going to think about it any more. His mother sent that man away from her sons for a reason. So there was no need to get to know him. Especially since he was leaving in a few days. 

Wade half reads the patient files AnnaBeth left for him, but for a while there he just stared into space. This was ridiculous - the whole place felt ridiculous. It was ridiculous he was stuck here doing busy-work for the office. It was ridiculous he was in Alabama in the first place, even more so that he was in the place his father was. His father, who he hasn’t seen or heard from in twenty nine years. 

It was enough to make his head spin. 

His mind drifts off to thoughts of this morning - before he came into the office. When Lavon woke him up, and when he met Zoe and her daughter. Zoe didn’t seem too happy when she found out who he was. Wade couldn’t exactly blame her - she probably didn’t want her father to be replaced by some New York City doctor who wanted nothing to do with the patients here. He didn’t blame her one bit. 

He takes it upon himself to move into Harley’s old office - which has remained untouched over the months he’s been gone. Countless books, medical journals, patient files, they’re all there. Wade lets his fingers run over the binds of the books in the bookshelves, collecting a bit of dust. He stops to look at a few pictures. Zoe as a little girl. Harley and his daughter. Harley and his brother and sister. Zoe and some other kids. A class picture. A framed photograph of Harley and a woman in a romantic embrace. A younger version of now-Zoe holding an infant - presumably her daughter - in her lap. Harley with his granddaughter in his arms. In almost all photos, they’re smiling so widely. 

They looked like a nice family. It was clear that Harley loved his daughter, even if Wade hadn’t met the man. Just looking around his office was clear. It was something he sort of envied, but only sort of. His family was broken and messy, any chance of him having a normal upbringing was thrown out the window a long, long time ago. Maybe one day he’d have that picture perfect family. Now just wasn’t the time.


	2. Chapter 2

When five’oclock rolls around, Wade closes up the office and walks back to the mayor’s plantation. A couple of people say hello to him, he meets them all with a nod and a polite smile. He’s sort of hungry, but not looking to eat anything particularly. Maybe he’d just make a cup of tea and eat a few crackers. He’s walking up the dirt path towards the gatehouse, right by the little pond when he stops in his tracks. 

“Oh - Holy. There’s - there’s an alligator!” He exclaims to absolutely nobody, panic rushing through his veins. Yep, it was an alligator. No doubt about it - he had only seen those things in zoos, never in the real world. He can’t help the shout leaving his mouth, and as he turns to run away, he can’t help the scream that comes from him as he falls right into the Alabama mud. 

Good grief, he just couldn’t catch a break. 

His screaming is met with another scream, a high pitched, girly scream. When he looks up, he finds a tall blonde in a velour tracksuit. 

“Why are you screaming?! What happened, what’s wrong?!” She exclaims, keeping a good distance between them and her arms spread out in front of her. “Are you hurt? Did you get attacked?” She yells. 

“What? What, no! There’s - there’s an alligator.” Wade gets out, still on his knees, pointing in the direction of the beast. The woman blinks. 

“An alligator? Sir, you’re in Alabama. We got tons of alligators around here. This one just so happens to belong to the mayor.” Her voice is high pitched and judgemental, as if she was annoyed with him for even mentioning the alligator. He didn’t ask her to come here screaming and yelling, and he definitely wasn’t used to seeing alligators. 

“The mayor - what? He...He has an alligator as a pet?” Wade shakes his head. And the pretty woman walks around him, so that they’re sharing the dirt path, and she sticks her hand out. She makes a waving motion in front of the alligator. 

“Burt Renyolds, shoo. You scared this man, which in turn ruined my nightly run.” She scolds. “Very rude of you. Now get lost.” 

As if he understood, the alligator moves out of the path and into the swampy marsh, towards the pond. Wade pulls himself to his feet, now caked in dirt. And he sighs. 

“This is crazy.” If he got a dime for every time he said or thought that, he’d be a millionaire by now. 

“Are you alright? Can I continue my run now or do you need to be supervised?” The blonde asks him. 

“You can supervise me all you want.” Wade says it smugly, as if she hadn’t just saved him from an alligator. 

“I’d rather not.” She scrunches up her nose. “You’re covered in mud.” She adds, as if it wasn’t obvious to him. Wade watches her run off down the trail and then decides to head to the gatehouse. He needed a good long shower.

After getting squeaky clean, Wade pulls on boxer briefs and lays on the bed. He stares at the ceiling fan and closes his eyes, drifting off.

Again, he dreams of the beach. But this time he isn’t alone at the beach - he’s with Zoe, the pretty bartender. She’s wearing a big floppy hat and sunglasses, shielding her from the sun. She’s reading a novel in the plastic beach chair next to him. It’s just the two of them on the beach, no crowds of people, no music, no sandcastles. Just the two of them sitting by the sand, overlooking the water. 

He’s surprised to hear his phone ringing, since last night he had no reception in the gate house at all. But, good to know at the moment, he had it. 

“Doctor Kinsella speaking.” He says into the phone, trying not to sound as if he was just woken up from sleep. 

“Did you sign Old Man Jackson’s eye exam for the DMV today?” AnnaBeth’s voice is shrill and unpleasant, which might just be the default tone whenever she spoke to Wade. 

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I did, why?” Wade didn’t see the issue. People gave eye exams all the time. He didn’t need to get permission from the nurse to do it. 

“Oh, great. Well, Doctor, you better get down to the office. The old man hit someone with his car!” AnnaBeth yells at him and hangs up. 

“Crap.” Wade groans and throws himself out of bed, quickly throwing on whatever clothes he could so he could run to the practice. 

When he gets there, AnnaBeth is already taking care of the patient. It’s the blonde lady in the tracksuit! Oh, it couldn’t get any worse. 

“Doctor Kinsella, are you insane, signing Jackson’s eye exam? The man is blind! Blind as a bat, and you let him get his license and look, he almost killed Lemon Breeland!” AnnaBeth is yelling at him and Wade tries his hardest to ignore her and pay attention to the woman on the exam table. 

“Lemon Breeland, I’m Doctor Wade Kinsella. We met earlier, do you remember me?” Wade asks. 

“I do remember you crying about seeing an alligator.” She huffs out. Wade could almost laugh as he examines her. 

“I wasn’t crying!” He argues. “Lemon, you’ve got a dislocated shoulder. I can put it back into place, it’s no problem. I just have to inject you with some morphine.” He tells her, fighting to regain his so-called doctor voice. 

Lemon mumbles something that sounds like “Well, if that’s what you think is best.” as AnnaBeth hands Wade the vile and he fills a syringe with the drug. He tells Lemon when he’s going to give her the medication, telling her she’d feel a pinch, and in a minute she’s out like a light. Wade puts her shoulder back into place, turning to AnnaBeth after. 

“I should’ve looked at the patient files. You were right. That was my fault. Don’t rub it in anymore, alright?” He looks at her and then he turns to leave. “She should be fine. Just make sure she gets a lot of rest and ices her shoulder. If she has any problems, tell her she can visit me in the office.” Wade leaves the exam room and goes to leave the practice, running into George on the way. 

“Doctor! Is she okay? Is Lemon alright?” George asks, worry clouding his features as he grabs onto Wade’s arm. 

“Uh, yeah, she’s gonna be fine. Dislocated shoulder. I fixed her up. Are - are you related to her or something?” Or was everyone in this town just that close? Wade wasn’t sure. 

“I’m her fiance, we’re engaged.” George informs Wade. If he was into high strung loud mouth blondes, he’d probably see George as some kind of rival. But Lemon was so, so not Wade’s type. She was more of someone he could see as a middle school bully, picking on him ‘cause his family didn’t have a lot of money. Your stereotypical mean girl. Yeah, Wade would be avoiding her any chance he got. 

“Right. If you guys need anything, let me know.” Wade says and he pushes past George, eager to get out of the office. 

“Oh, we won’t be needing you. Our real doctor is her father.” George says it so casually, Wade almost feels a little hurt. But he reminds himself - this isn’t what he’s here for. He’s not even supposed to be here. 

He heads to the Dixie Stop, hoping that he’d find a nice, cheap bottle of liquor to drink. He didn’t need it, but damn, did he want to get drunk right now. So he takes his cheap whiskey and walks back to the plantation house, then towards the gate-house. He’s surprised to see Zoe sitting on the porch. 

“Hi.” He says, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. 

“Hi.” Zoe mimics, crossing her legs. “Have a good first day? Everyone knows Mr. Jackson memorized the eye chart.” She tells him. 

“Yeah, not everyone.” Wade drops into the chair beside her, twisting open his cheap bottle of whiskey to drink straight out of the bottle. “AB said I should’ve read the patient file, it was dumb that I didn’t in the first place.” 

“Super dumb. And I heard you almost got Lemon Breeland killed. I’m surprised nobody’s threatened you with murder yet - she’s the town sweetheart, you know? The Little Queen Bee Belle of Bluebell.” Zoe says the last part dripping with sarcasm, something that Wade is almost glad to hear. 

“Oh, you sound real torn up about that.” Wade comments, listening to her let out a laugh. He takes a sip from the plastic bottle, cringing at the taste in his mouth afterwards. Maybe he should’ve bought a couple of beers to wash this down with. 

“Lemon and I...are friendly when we need to be.” Zoe decides and she reaches for the bottle, surprising Wade. 

“Hey, uh, don’t you have a kid to be watching?” He asks as she takes a sip, eyes watching her carefully. 

“She’s at the library. They’re screening ‘A Bug’s Life’ for the kids. Besides, one drink won’t ruin me, Doc.” She gives him a sideways glance, handing the bottle back to him. “It’s cute you’re concerned.” 

“I’m not concerned, I just...As a doctor, I think, you know...You shouldn’t be drunk around your kid.” Wade tries, but it still comes out funny. Well, who’s he to judge? 

“Lizzy Loralee is fine, Wade. I promise.” Zoe nudges his foot with her own. “Sorry I was being a bitch to you earlier.” She adds. 

“It’s okay. I get it. I didn’t know that Harley was your father - I’d be mad if I found out some stranger was replacing my dad, too.” Wade shrugs, looking down at their shoes. He drinks again. “He seemed like a good guy. The town misses him a lot, I can tell.” 

“He was a good guy. He was a great dad.” Zoe agrees. “So you took over his office today - I’m guessing you saw all our family pictures?” She asks, almost embarrassed. Wade drinks again and he nods. 

“Oh yeah I did. Gotta say, I really dig the purple hair on you. You should bring that back.” He teases, listening to her groan. “I was fourteen! I was in a rebellious stage, okay?” She laughs. He laughs with her and bumps his knee against hers. 

After some silence, she sighs. 

“I’m not used to him being gone. It’s still weird to me. It’s just...Like, he was a part of my life, in my life, every day for my entire life. And now he’s gone.” She shakes her head. “I feel like I’m in a parallel universe where everything is the same, except he’s removed from the picture.” 

“I get that.” Wade takes a drink and passes her the bottle. “It’ll pass. When my mom died, it was the same way. But at least you’ve got a big family to look after you and Lizzy now, too. You guys aren’t alone.” 

Zoe and him sit in a comfortable silence again. She takes another drink before she stands up, stretching her legs. 

“I’ll see you around, Doc.” She tells him with a small smile. “Have a good night.” She steps off the porch, halfway turned to look at him. He gives her a wave. 

“Night, Zoe. See you later.” 

He watches her walk off towards the other side of the pond, towards the carriage house. And, no, he was not staring at her perfectly sculpted butt in those teeny tiny short shorts. He just wanted to make sure she got there safely, with no alligator interruptions. 

The next morning Wade forgoes breakfast at the plantation and the Rammer Jammer and stops at the ButterStick for a coffee and a muffin. He can’t help but whistle at the low price - 2.50 for a coffee and muffin? New York would never. He arrives to the practice early, even before AnnaBeth comes in. He pulls on the green scrubs and decides, it’s his second day here and it’s Tuesday. He’s supposed to be having his interview with the head doctor today. Instead he’s in Bluebell. He realizes, yeah, he probably should’ve called yesterday. But in his defense, yesterday was a little nuts. So he stands behind the front desk in the practice and calls the plastic surgery office. 

“Hi, this is Doctor Wade Kinsella. No, no, Kinsella. K-I-N-S-E-L-LA.” He spells out to the receptionist over the phone when he hears the front door chime and someone walk in. 

“Do you mind? This is a personal call, just give me a second.” Wade says without looking up. 

“I guess not.” It’s Zoe and Wade considers hanging up the phone immediately to give her all of his attention. What was she dropping by the office for? 

“Doctor Kinsella? Doctor, aren’t you scheduled for a meeting with --” The receptionist’s voice brings Wade back to reality, his eyes still trained on Zoe as she makes her way through the practice as if she owned it. Well, maybe she did own part of it. Maybe her father left her part of it.

“Yeah - Yes, actually that’s why I’m calling. I’m not going to make it today.” Wade tells the receptionist. “See, there’s a medical emergency over here and no doctor available. Of course I had to offer my services and I have to stay until the situation stabilizes. Speaking, medically, of course.” 

Zoe plops into a chair and picks up a spare magazine, flipping through it absentmindedly. 

“He’s meeting with other doctors?” Damn it. Wade closes his eyes for a second. “Alright, listen, Friday. Friday I can do, no problem. I’ll be there.” The receptionist hangs up the phone, the line going dead. Wade puts his phone on the desk, looking over at Zoe quickly. 

“That was better tap dancing than I’ve seen on America’s Got Talent.” She comments. Wade cracks a smile. 

“You know, if you tell me you’re here for a physical...You just might make my day.” He tells her. Zoe smiles back. 

“It’s unprofessional for you to flirt with the patients.” She shoots. Wade fakes pain, clutching his heart and wailing dramatically. 

“I like your look. The scrubs, not something I expected to be seeing you in. Is that the new style for young urban doctors?” Zoe adds. Wade glances down at the green scrubs. Did the other doctor not wear these? 

“Well, I spent the last three years working eighteen hour shifts in the ER. These are pretty comfortable.” Wade offers. Zoe raises her eyebrows. 

“I think you’d be more comfortable without ‘em.” She says it fast enough that he’s sure she regrets it, judging how red her cheeks get.

“I could say the same about those little short shorts of yours.” He says, chuckling a little bit. She’s as bright as a tomato, the grin wide on her face. 

“Alright, you two, enough flirting. Doctor, you’ve got a line of patients waiting for you.” AnnaBeth’s voice rings out from the front door, which chimes once again as she walks through. Following her is a bunch of patients, she wasn’t wrong. Wade claps his hands together. 

“Okay, one of you get up in the exam room. Rest of you wait out here.” He instructs, AnnaBeth pushing past him to get to her side of the desk. 

“Zoe, is there a reason you’re talking to the doctor so bright and early?” AnnaBeth asks, looking at the other woman with a knowing smile. Zoe pushes some hair out of her face. 

“No reason at all. Doctor, I’ll see you later. AB.” Zoe pushes herself up from the waiting room chair and leaves the office as fast as she could, her high heels clicking loudly against the hardwood floor. 

Wade takes care of the patients in a few hours - removing fish hooks from skin, checking out snake bites, bug bites. An old woman swore she was seeing spots in her vision, but Wade cleaned her glasses off and it turned out it was just a smudge. By the end of the day, the waiting room is cleared out and he’s standing by AnnaBeth, going through some more patient files. She fills him in on the town’s people, the drama in their lives. 

And then a small family busts through the door of the practice. “Nurse AnnaBeth? AnnaBeth, you’ve got to call Doctor Breeland. Caleb can’t breathe right and he’s turning blue!” The father exclaims. 

“I’m the Doctor.” Wade sticks up a hand to wave. 

“AnnaBeth, call Doctor Breeland.” The mother jumps in. 

“It’s okay. I’m the doctor.” Wade dismisses and steps around the desk to meet the family halfway. He bends down in front of the kid, grabbing the stethoscope from around his neck to plug into his ears. 

“How long has he been like this?” Wade asks the parents. 

“All afternoon.” The father informs him.   
“What’s his name?” Wade asks. But the little boy speaks, his breathing heavy and his words soft. “‘M Caleb.”

“Okay, Caleb, this is gonna be a little cold, alright? I just wanna hear your heart.” Wade tells the kid, gently pushing down the front of the kid’s shirt to press the stethoscope against his chest. He could hear the kid wheezing heavily from the few inches he was away from him. “Does your tummy hurt?” He asks, watching the child nod. 

“Okay, let’s get you into the examination room, bud. Get up on the table, I’ll be in in a second.” Wade braces a smile and he watches them move into the examination room, shutting the door behind them. The smile drops immediately as Wade turns to AnnaBeth. “Call Doctor Breeland, tell him to get here as soon as possible. Actually, scratch that. Call an ambulance, this is a possible cardiac emergency. And get me all this kid’s medical history.” AnnaBeth nods quickly and reaches for the phone as Wade heads into the exam room. 

“Okay, here’s the situation. Your son is turning blue because he has an abnormal mitral valve, it’s causing a backflow of blood in his heart. We may have to operate.” Wade explains, watching the parents begin to fret over their boy. “I’m going to send him to the closest hospital - Mobile Presbyterian. Ambulance should be on it’s way.” He moves around the exam room, searching through the cabinets for an oxygen tank and a clean mask.

AnnaBeth’s head pops into the office. “Sorry to interrupt, but Doctor Breeland says you should give the boy a coke.” 

Wade looks over at her. “What?” 

“Doctor Breeland said that Caleb has a tummy ache and you should give him a cola.”

Wade stares at her in disbelief. As she opens the door wider, he can see the phone in her hand. Without thinking, he moves to grab it. 

“Listen, Doctor.” He snaps. “I got a boy here in cardiac crisis - if you went to medical school you’d know damn well you can’t treat that with a coca-cola. We’re gonna use real medicine this time. I’m sending him to Mobile Presbyterian. You’re his regular doctor - You get off your ass, get down here, and go with him!” Wade hangs up the phone and shoves it back into AnnaBeth’s hand, angry with this other doctor he had yet to meet. “AB, how long is it gonna take that ambulance to come?” 

“It should be here any moment.” AnnaBeth says, her voice wavering with a little shock. Wade nods. “Alright, let’s meet them out front.” Wade instructs her. 

When they’re outside and ready to meet the ambulance, Wade is surprised to see an older man outside. 

“Where’s Kinsella?” The older man barks out, annoyance blazing in his eyes. 

“Right here, what’s the problem?” Wade nods, glancing up from the patient. 

“I’m Doctor Breeland. What the hell kind of snot-nosed puppy doctor are you, anyway? Wake me up out of a sound sleep, scare these poor folks out of their mind!” Breeland raises his voice, frustration evident. 

“It’s a mitral valve regurge.” Wade informs him. 

“What?” Dr. Breeland looks at him like he has three heads. Which, for the record, he did not. 

“Look, I've had a lot of experience with it in E.R., okay? I've even assisted in the surgery to fix it. God only knows how long he's had this, but I guess you overlooked it. Now why don't you go and check his color.” Wade waves him off. Breeland raises his eyebrows. 

“AnnaBeth, get that boy off the oxygen tank, he’s fine!” Breeland turns to the parents. “Nate, you gave him the bismuth subnitrate, didn't you?”

The dad nods. “Yessir."

“You gave him too much, as usual! Turned him three shades of blue.” Brick sighs.  
“Bismuth subnitrate?” Wade cuts in.

“Home-grown antacid. You hear a heart murmur?” Dr. Breeland asks. Wade shakes his head.  
“No, it's hard to detect.”

“You've been sampling your daddy's chewing tobacco?” Dr. Breeland asks the kid. Sheepishly, Caleb nods, embarrassed at being caught. Breeland digs through his medical bag and pulls out a can of coke, handing it to the kid. He looks at Wade. “You owe me a dollar.” 

The kid chugs the soda and lets out a loud burp. Wade blinks as Dr. Breeland walks over to him.  
“Well, nice work, Manhattan. You're just about to crack open the chest of a 6-year old boy to cure a case of diarrhea.” He all but yells, the venom present in his voice. “Now listen up, you smart ass. Next time I tell you how to treat a patient of mine, you better damn well do it!” He pauses. “Doctor!” He scoffs, as if he doubts it. “I doubt you'd know crap from Crisco.”

Breeland walks back to his car and drives off, leaving Wade and AnnaBeth with the patients.   
This town just loved to turn Wade on his head, upside down, didn’t they? He looked over at AnnaBeth. She shrugged. “He told you to give the kid a coke.” 

Wade leaves the practice after the patient and family leave, telling AnnaBeth he’d be back in the morning. He felt like crap. Again. He considers going back to the plantation house, seeing if Zoe was up for another drink. But it was still relatively early, only six’oclock. So he decided to head down to the car garage, check on how his car was doing. 

“Hey Tom.” He says to the younger man, giving a slight wave. “Howdy, Doc. How’s your day goin’?” Tom looks up, all smiles. He seemed like a good kid. 

“Going okay. How’s my car doing?” 

“Wally’s workin’ on it right now, go ahead in.” He points to the door where Wade goes through. Only to find his car in a million pieces. 

“SHIT!” 

Wally pokes his head up from above the hood. “Now, hold on a second. What if I walked in on you in the middle of a hernia operation and I see some poor man’s guts all over? Same thing, right?”   
“You killed my car.” Wade whispers. 

“I resent that.” Wally shakes his head.

“That car was my life, Wally! Man, that car was my baby!” Wade exclaims, covering half of his face with his hand. Maybe if he didn't look at it, he didn't have to believe it was really happening.  
“Want me to stop working on it now? I can put it in some boxes, ship it out to Florida for you. No problem for me. Now, you still need an oil pump casing.” Wally starts to explain, stepping out from behind the car. He leans against the side of it. “There's a man up in Oregon, he's got an oil pump he could express ship to us by tomorrow. Two hundred and thirty-nine bucks, plus shipping. Only one problem.”

Of course there was a problem. “Oregon exploded?” Wade guessed.

“No. He don't take credit.” Wally informs him. “Or checks. And tomorrow being Saturday, you can't just wire some cash to him.”

Wade pinches the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. “Okay, Wally. Let me ask you...How do you think I should pay for this?”

Wally shrugs. “I was hoping you'd pay me. Then I could trade him for a front rocker assembly I got from a '68 Nova, but…” He trails off, looking at Wade again. 

Wade nods, knowing the answer. “You don't take credit and you don't take checks.” It fucking figured.

“No sir. I apologize.” Wally says it, as if there was nothing he can do about it. Who the hell didn't take checks? 

“How long will this guy in Oregon wait?” Wade asks. Wally pauses to think about it.  
“I imagine I could stall him till Thursday afternoon. He's got another taker in Arizona, but I was first.”   
“Stall him.” Wade insists and then he turns, shouting his goodbyes and heading as far away from the frickin’ garage as his feet could take him. Yeah, he was going to need that drink tonight, with or without Zoe.


	3. Chapter 3

In the morning, Wade goes to the Rammer Jammer in the morning for breakfast. Shelley serves him - on the house, of course. He’s in the middle of eating some eggs when a young teenage blonde comes up and sits right next to him at the counter. She looks familiar, but Wade can’t place her. 

“Dr. Kinsella, I presume?” She smiles.

Wade nods. “Yeah, that's right...Hi.” 

“Hi!” She leans a little closer. “You're much shorter than they said you were.” She adds, squinting at him.

“Uh, I'm sitting on a stool.” Wade tells her. He still had no idea who she was. “... and you are?”  
She laughs. “Dying to get out of this town! How about you? You're plannin' on stayin' in Bluebell?” 

“Only as long as I have to.” Wade admits. The sooner he could get out, the better.  
“Thank God. For a second there I thought they got their hooks into you, too.” She says excitedly, reaching for his arm. Wade watches her carefully.

“What? You don't like Bluebell?”  
“No way!”

“So how come you don't leave?” He asks.

“With you? Is that a proposition, Doctor?” The teenager teases. Wade, suddenly uncomfortable, picks up his plate. 

“I better eat this before it gets cold.” He looks across the Rammer Jammer, smiling as he spots a certain someone sitting in the corner with a bunch of books. 

“Did I invite you to sit down?” Zoe asks once he sits across from her.

“No. But you were going to.” Wade grins. “Southern hospitality and all that.”

Zoe looks like she forces a smile, like she’s annoyed by his presence. “Now what?”

“Now let's talk about you.” Wade offers, deciding he’d like to get to know her, too. She took up enough space in his thoughts and they've only had about two conversations. 

“Okay. I like my privacy. And I'd appreciate it if you’d go back to the counter so you could leave me alone to study.” Zoe tells him. 

“Mhm, not happening. I like this seat, nice table. Great view.” He jokes, eyes still focused on her. 

“Oh, okay then. Let's see now. I suppose you'll say something cute to avoid goin’ back there.” Zoe starts, staring back at him with a curious look he can’t place. Maybe she is really annoyed with him. “Maybe tell me all about the big city and all the things I'm missing livin' in this dinky old town and how you'd like to be the one to take me out of it.” 

Wade shrugs. “Yeah, okay. Now that you mention it.” He looks at the textbooks in front of her, glancing over the titles. “Isn't that why you're going to business school? 'Cause you want to get the hell out of this dinky little town?”

“I'm not going yet.” Zoe covers part of the textbook from his vision, as if hiding it from him would prevent him from asking any more questions. “And I plan to open up my own business here when I'm through.”

“Yeah, it looks like a hotspot, big tourist destination.” He comments, poking fun at the small town. Zoe seems to have enough of it. 

“Well, malpractice for a visiting young surgeon seems promising.” She shoots and he lets out a chuckle. She got him, alright. 

“Morning, Zoe. See you’ve met Doctor Kinsella.” George Tucker comes up to the table, hands in his pockets. “How’s it going at the practice? Heard about your mishap with Nate’s kid - thank Goodness Dr. Breeland showed up when he did.” He sits between Wade and Zoe, making himself comfortable. Wade glances at the woman, who rests her head on the palm of her hand. This is nothing new, apparently. 

And then the blonde teenager is running up to the table, leaning against George’s chair, but very close to Wade. 

“Dr. Kinsella? I read somewhere that doctors have the highest suicide rate in any profession except dentistry. Now, is that true?” The blonde asks, batting her eyelashes.

"Magnolia, isn't that a bit of a morbid topic for breakfast time?" George joins in, then a silence falls over them. Were they really waiting for Wade to answer? He had no idea about those statistics. It’s Zoe who speaks up again. 

“Well, I'd love to stay and hear where this conversation's headed, but if y’all will excuse me. I’ve got some work to do.” She stands up and collects her books, offering forced polite smiles to all of them before she moves from the table, headed towards the bar to talk to Shelley.

“There's something else I wanted to ask you. Do doctors know more about...sex than normal people?” Magnolia, as Wade learned her name was, speaks again. George’s eyes widen and Wade can only blink. 

“I’ve got to get down to the practice.” He decides and hurries himself up and off, eager to leave the Jammer to avoid this conversation as best he could. Down at the practice, AnnaBeth is already at the front desk. 

“Morning Doctor. You’ve got a visitor in Harley’s office waiting for you.” She tells him, nodding. Wade makes his way into the office and is startled to see a man who he helped yesterday. With a pig. 

“Doctor, my foot feels so good after you got the hook taken out o’it. So I brought you this pig.” The old man informs him. Wade blinks. 

“Um. Okay.” He didn’t know what the hell to do with this. 

“I can’t get by bein’ in nobody’s debt. This pig is all I got to give you.” The man nods.   
“You really don’t - I can’t accept your pig. I’m already...paid, more or less, by the practice.” He stammers. 

“It’s a done deal. She’s your pig now.” The man hands Wade the rope to lead the pig like one would lead a dog on a leash. And then he’s off. Wade isn’t sure what the hell he’s supposed to do. AnnaBeth walks into the office. “Keep your pig outside, Doctor. This is a medical practice.” She laughs. 

So now Wade has a pig. It’s sort of small and pink and everyone in town compliments him on it. He’s walking it back to the plantation house during his lunch break when he runs into Lavon.   
“Now, Wade, I think just took away your last reason to go to Florida. Gloriana - They played last year at the Strawberry Parade. And now they’re under exclusive contract to play at the Founder’s Day Festival. You can’t pass up the opportunity to see them!” Lavon says excitedly. Wade shakes his head. 

“Mayor, I told you, I’m not staying.” 

"Sure you aren’t." Lavon agrees, though his tone proves that he's unconvinced. "Oh, I meant to tell you. Dinner tomorrow night at the main house - six o’clock. You’re the guest of honor.”   
Wade looks at the mayor. He was the guest of honor? For what reason? And then an idea hits him. 

“Can I bring a date?” 

So that’s why Wade’s at Zoe’s house with a handful of wildflowers, looking like an idiot as she’s reading. He clears his throat and grabs her attention.   
“Wade. Hi.”   
“Zoe, hey.” 

“Did you just pick those flowers?” She asks him, staring at the bunch in his hand. “You know, those are protected by the law. You can’t just pick them.” 

Wade rolls his eyes. “Figures... Where’s Lizzy?”   
Zoe glances at him once. “She’s at the daycare Monday through Thursday. Pre-school, whatever you wanna call it.” She shrugs. “Why?” 

“Uh, I wanted to...I wanted to…” He fumbles with his words. He was usually so smooth, but right now you could never tell. “I need a date. I’m having dinner at Lavon’s tomorrow night. I was hoping you’d come with me.” 

He’s sure Zoe heard him, but she didn’t acknowledge it. In fact, she changes the subject completely.

“I was thinking of having a cocktail. Are you in a hurry?”

And that’s how Wade ends up sitting at the porch swing out front of the carriage house, drinking some homemade cocktail.

“Oh man, that's tart.” He comments, face twisting. Zoe laughs as she tells him the dirty name of the drink, his eyes widening. "It's -- what?" 

Zoe nods. “Yeah. I worked at one of those weirdo theme bars on the West Side. Jonah and I went to college in New York. Then he got into med school, I got pregnant. He worked all the time. I needed some extra cash, so I bartended.” She shrugs. “I managed to finish school, though.”

Wade’s surprised to hear she ever left town, but his mind lingers on the idea of her having a significant other. “Um, Jonah isn't still…”  
She looks at him. “No. Jonah is a big shot doctor out in Boston, I think. I can't keep track of him anymore. I don’t need to, anyway. He left me after Lizzy was born. I divorced him and came running back home.”

She goes quiet for a moment. Wade nudges his foot with hers as she joins him on the porch swing. 

“His loss. Can’t imagine pickin’ up and leaving your wife and kid like that.” He shrugs. “Guess it’s not too hard - my daddy did it.” 

“Your dad left your family?” Zoe’s voice is a little softer. She takes a drink of her cocktail as she looks over at him. 

“Kind of. My mom and him separated, but he never made any effort to be in my life. It’s funny, you’re not gonna believe it, but I told my brother where I am. You know, here in Bluebell. And he said that here’s where our father lives.” Wade shakes his head. It’s still weird to think about it.   
“Wade, who’s your father?” Zoe wonders. 

“Uh, I’m not fixing to meet him or anything, Zoe. I’ve made my peace with it, I’m not trying to form a relationship with him this late in life.” Wade tells her. Zoe doesn’t break eye contact.   
“It’s never too late, Wade. Who is your father?” She presses. Half of Wade feels like telling her off, taking back his invitation to dinner, and flying solo. But he doesn’t. 

“Earl.” Wade says it slowly. He hopes that there’s multiple people in the town with that name, or that Zoe doesn’t know him if he was in town. 

“Oh.” Zoe’s voice is a little uneven. “That’s - yeah. Um. He’s your dad? Are you sure?” 

Wade nudges her again. “Uh, yeah. Says so on my birth certificate. Was married to my mom for like, five years.” He doesn’t know what else to say. “Why? What’s the deal?” 

“He’s...He’s kind of the town drunk.” Zoe admits, looking away from Wade and to her lap instead. “They call him Crazy Earl.” 

Wade listens to her. And then he downs his drink, finishing it in one gulp. 

“So, do you wanna come to dinner at Lavon’s with me tomorrow night?” He decides to ask, wanting to change the subject. Yep, add his father to the list of things he wasn’t going to ever deal with. 

“I do love dinner at the mayor’s house...And, you know, I heard you’ve got a new pig. Got one from Mister Garrison.” She gives him a sly smile. “Lizzy Loralee loves pigs. Almost as much as she loves frogs.” 

“Oh, I think something could be arranged for the two of ‘em to get together, then. What do you say?” Wade raises his eyebrows.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Wade is bringing his new pig down to the carriage house, while he’s dressed up all nice. He meets Rose Hatenbarger, the teenager who’s friends with Zoe, watching Lizzy for the night. 

“Nice pig.” Rose comments as Lizzy squeaks in excitement, shaking to get off the porch swing to go pet the pig. 

“Thanks.” Everybody kept complimenting him on the damn pig - he didn’t get it. It was a nice animal, he supposed, but nothing special. “Is, uh, is Zoe ready?” 

The screen door opens and there she was, in her three inch high heels and tight black dress. Her hair is partially pulled back, little strands framing her face. Wade lets out a low whistle. 

“Woah, wow, who is this?” He jokes, eyes looking over her. There she goes again, sucking all the air out of his lungs. She should really stop, it was becoming sort of a problem. 

“Shut up, Wade.” Zoe mumbles, her cheeks burning as she steps down the stairs of her porch. 

“No way, I’m serious here. You look a lot like Zoe Hart, that bartender....But all fancy. Very...beautiful.” He can’t help the smile. 

“I’m warning you, Doc. Knock it off. I could whoop your ass in a fistfight.” She shoves at his chest lightly, almost playfully. Wade grabs her hand and holds it in his own, to his surprise she doesn’t pull it away. Instead she laces their fingers together and lets it fall at their sides between them. Rose raises her eyebrows. 

“Alright, sweet girl. Be good for Rose. Rose, if you need anything, we’re right at the Mayor’s house. We might be a little late.” Zoe pulls away from Wade to kiss her daughter on the head and half hug Rose, but she grabs his hand again as they walk down the path to the mayor’s house. 

“Hi y’all! Welcome, welcome, come on in!” AnnaBeth opens the door for them, smiling widely. “Zoe, you look fantastic! Wade, I didn’t know you could dress in anything other than scrubs.” Annabeth links arms with the two of them once pulling them inside, sandwiching herself in the middle. 

“Thanks, AB.” Zoe mumbles. 

“So, Lavon’s in the living room, entertaining the guests. I’ll take you in there.” AnnaBeth informs them, nodding. 

“So, you work with the mayor, too?” Wade asks. Not that he had a problem with the woman, but he just couldn’t seem to avoid her if he tried. 

“No, sir, I am his girlfriend. Thought you would’ve figured that out by now.” She gives him a funny look as they reach the living room. 

“Honey, Wade and Zoe are here.” AB calls to the former football player, who turns with excitement to see them. “Hey ya’ll! Glad you could make it. Wade, you know Lemon and George. And this is Lemon’s father -” 

“Doctor Breeland. I know, we’ve met.” Wade looks to the older doctor, who looks just as unhappy to see him. 

“Check Manhattan for knives. We don’t need him operating on me later, just ‘cause I sneeze or something.” Breeland says rather pointedly, Lemon giggles into her hand and George looks to be fighting one. AnnaBeth unlinks her arms from Wade and Zoe, mumbling under her breath “Oh, isn’t this going to be fun?” and then yelling out “Anyone want a drink?”

They’re in the middle of dinner when Lemon asks about New York City’s hospitals - she’s heard they’ve got some of the best in the world, but she doubts it slightly. After all, no doctor could hold a candle to her father. 

“Oh, yes, Kinsella. Tell us about real doctorin’.” Breeland speaks up, lifting his drink to his lips. “You know, big city medicine and all that.” 

“So much has changed in the forty years since you’ve been to medical school, Dr. Breeland.” Wade admits, the side of his lips lifting into a smirk. Zoe’s hand brushes his knee under the table. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.” 

“He got you good!” Lavon laughs and then AnnaBeth laughs, and they’re all laughing. Even Dr. Breeland, rather being laughed with than laughed at.

After dinner, Wade walks Zoe back to the carriage house. He makes it all the way to the gate house, removing his tie and suit jacket when he realizes one thing. He forgot his frickin' pig. He groans, knowing he can't just leave it there for Zoe to take care of. It wasn't her unofficial pet. He takes the bottle of whiskey he never ended up finishing and bolts out of the house, running for the carriage house before it was too late. (It was only 9:30 pm, but just unlike everywhere else, bluebell had its own quirks. Wade wouldn't be surprised if there was a mandatory curfew for all citizens to follow.)

He reaches the door and knocks, out of breath and bent over slightly. Zoe answers, wearing a silk bathrobe that left little to the imagination about the babydoll nightie underneath. 

"I forgot my pig." He tells her, nodding quickly. 

"If you wanted to see me again, you could've just asked." Zoe leans in the doorframe, crossing her arms. 

"I don't want to see you." Wade blurts, but quickly cringes. "I mean I do want to see you. I do. You're a great girl, Zoe, and if I wasn't leaving I would definitely, 100% pursue you." He adds. "But I'm just here looking to take my pig home." 

“Who says I want anything to do with you?” Zoe quips, eyebrows raising. Wade blinks. 

“We - We’ve been flirting since I got here. And you were my date to dinner tonight. I thought…” He rubs the back of his neck, feeling awkward. “Whatever. It’s not a big deal, I’m leaving anyway. You could keep the pig, I don’t know what I’m gonna be doing with her anyway.” Wade huffs, going to turn and hop off the porch. But Zoe reaches out and grabs onto his arm, pulling him back. 

“You’re too serious, Doc. Come on, now, I was just playing.” She says it softly, her big eyes looking up at him. It’s really hard to be mad at her when she’s looking at him like this, her hand holding his the whole night, brushing against his leg in the middle of dinner. 

“I thought New York girls were weird. You all down here might just take the cake.” Wade watches her come closer, standing on her toes so she could just bump her nose against his. 

“I know you New Yorkers like subtly. So I’ll tell you flat out - I like your spunk, Doc. This town needs some shakin’ up.” Zoe cracks a smile. Wade lifts his hands to rest on her waist, holding her against him. 

“I like you, too. But, Zo’...I don’t wanna hurt you. I’m not staying here.” He pulls back slightly. “I’m not changing my plans.” 

“I’m not asking you to. I’m not looking to get hurt. I’m a big girl, Wade. I know what I’m getting into. If we do this.” She goes flat on her feet, letting Wade look down at her now. 

“If we do...what?” Wade asks, thumb rubbing up the fabric of her nightie. He wants to pick her up in his arms, kiss her hard. He’s not going to make the first move - not on her, she’s gotta be the one to step forward. His green eyes flicker down to her lips, the corners of his own lifting slightly into a smile. 

“You’re an idiot.” Zoe rests her hand on the back of his neck and stands back up on her tippy toes to press her lips against his own. Wade kisses her back, eager to finally have her in his arms, holding her tight against him. Wade is flushed when they pull away, Zoe has a sheepish smile on her face. He presses another kiss to her lips, chaste and soft. 

“We’re not done here.” He tells her, stepping back, hands falling at his sides. 

“Oh, aren’t we?” 

“Nope. No way. I’ll be seein’ you at the Founder’s Day Festival. Get a babysitter, sweetheart, ‘cause we’re gonna make a night of it.” Wade winks as she moves to get back into her home. 

“We’ll see, Doc. That’s three days away - you're due to be in Florida by then.” She reminds him. The festival’s on Saturday - He’s supposed to be in Florida by Friday. Dammit, he couldn’t catch a break, could he? “Look, I’ll see you when I see you, alright? Go to bed, Manhattan.” 

He's back inside the gate-house, half asleep when he realizes his pig is still at the carriage house.

Wade’s head is spinning. He can’t get this girl out of his head, no matter what he did. And he only kissed her once. He waits until after lunch but before dinner to stop by the Rammer Jammer, hoping to find it empty so he could talk to Zoe. 

He was in luck, she was the only one working in the bar, taking care of her daughter. 

“Wade!” Lizzy exclaims, excited to see him for the first time in a while. He was glad to see her, too. And her mother. 

“Hey Lizzy Loralee, hi Zoe. Good seein’ you ladies.” Wade comments, joining them at the table, where Lizzy was filling in a coloring book and Zoe was skimming through a novel. “What are you coloring, Lizzy?” He asks. 

The toddler picks up her coloring book, showing him a cartoon dog. “A snoopy! Do you wanna color with me?” She asks. Zoe gives him a small smile. 

“Of course! Hand me a crayon, kid.” Wade nods, watching the little girl reach over to grab a few out of the paper box. Wade selects the green crayon out of her hand and starts to fill in the ears. Wade’s just about to speak to Zoe when someone walks into the bar - a man, probably around their age, maybe older.

“Hey, can I get some service around here?” The man asks rather loudly. 

“Of course.” Zoe mumbles, bracing a smile. She pushes herself off the chair. “Wade, can you watch Lizzy for me?” She asks, just before turning away. 

“Uh, I’m in the middle of coloring this ‘snoopy’, so I’m not going anywhere. No problem.” Wade assures, watching her move to seat the customer at the bar. Wade watches carefully, but tries not to make it obvious, as he is supposed to be giving his attention to Lizzy. 

"What color should I make his nose? Purple?" Lizzy asks him. Wade taps his chin, eyes glancing to the ceiling before widening. "Yes, I think purple is the perfect color for a nose. But he should have red feet." Wade tells her, as if it's obvious. Lizzy giggles. But then corrects him. 

"Red paws."   
"Right, right." 

They color and every once in a while Wade glances up to make sure Zoe was doing okay. She seemed to be doing fine, serving the man some liquor and making small talk. Lizzy seems to be very focused on coloring, so much so that Wade doesn't think it's a bad idea to tune her out and focus on Zoe and this mystery man. 

"So you work here all alone?"   
"Not always. Just a slow day, so it's alright with just me and the cook."   
"Must get lonely. Good thing I dropped in to keep ya company." The man brings his drink to his lips. 

"Mhm." Zoe wipes down the counter, not paying him much mind.   
"Mhm. Yes, ma'am, I'm glad I stopped by. Nothing better than bein' served a cold drink by a pretty woman." 

Zoe looks up for a second, but seems to ignore it. 

"I'm payin' you a compliment, sweetheart. Polite thing is for say thank you." The man presses. 

"I am just doing my job." Zoe forces out, scrubbing hard at a spot on the bar top. 

"Hey! Wade!" Lizzy Loralee exclaims, grabbing Wade's attention (and his hand). The little girl tightens her fist around the crayon, threatening to break it in half to get away from his hold. "You have to color inside the lines!" She yells. Wade zones out from the conversation happening at the bar to focus on Zoe's daughter. He was supposed to be watching her after all.

After a few minutes of a singing off key to a Taylor Swift song playing on the radio and criticizing his art skills, Lizzy puts her attention back to her very diligent work. And Wade, again, tries to listen to the conversation taking place at the bar. He's missed out on a couple of interactions happening over the last few minutes and he's still surprised to hear the next bullshit coming out of this guys mouth

"Say, now, is there anywhere in this town a little more...private? Where I could spend some time with you alone?" His tone changed. "I'll take good care of you if you let me, honey." He reaches for his wallet, flashing some dollar bills. 

It's this moment that Wade stands up and marches behind the bar like he owns it. 

"Baby, this guy ain't causing no trouble, is he?" Wade asks, his New York accent coming out thicker than it really was. (If you ask any New Yorker had a bad, bad impression of a Brooklyn Mobster). He leans his hip against the bar, his front facing Zoe and his side facing the annoying stranger. No way was Wade gonna let her get hit on like this, not while he was here. 

"He seems to be offering me a supposed good time. Private place and all." Zoe raises her eyebrows. "Sounds like a pretty good offer, right? One I shouldn't turn down?" She's laying the sarcasm down heavily. "Like I'm some sweet little street hooker working the corner, not the damn owner of this place." 

Wade reaches out to rest a hand on her hip, pulling her a little closer. The man at the counter downs his drink. 

"Well since you're dressed like that, what do you expect?" The man huffs. 

"Baby, you know you don't gotta take that man up on that offer. I work damn hard to put that smile on your face every day. I'd say you're pretty uh, satisfied, right?" Wade cracks a smile. 

"Satisfied doesn't even begin to describe it." Zoe giggles. They're gushing over this made up relationship, as if the man isn't even there. He drops a couple of bills on the counter. 

"Whore." He comments, under his breath. But Wade hears it, and he's sure Zoe does too. Which is why he let's her go and grabs a fistful of this idiot's shirt, pulling him off the barstool and closer. 

"You do not talk to my wife that way. You don't get to come in here, tryin' to pick her up 'and solicit her like she's some kinda cheap slut. You come in here, to this place, this town, and you treat us with respect." Wade nearly spits in the guys face. "You ever come into this bar again, I kick you out myself. You come near my wife? I'll make sure you never walk or talk ever again." Wade let go of the man's shirt, pushing against his chest to shoving him down onto the stool. 

"Wade." Zoe steps to put a hand on his arm. Wade clenches his jaw. "Honey, you made your point." She plays along with the pet name, but something inside Wade calms a little when she says it. "Sir, I ain't gonna ask you to leave, I think you understand you're no longer welcome at this establishment. Correct?" 

The man grumbles some insults and nasty words, but eventually retreats from the restaurant. He wouldn't be coming back. Zoe stays close to Wade until he leaves. 

"Are you alright?" Wade finally asks when they're alone. At the table, Lizzy is aware that something had happened, but she isn't sure of what. Wade wasn't going to be the one explaining to her. 

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. That happens sometimes. Perks of being a female bartender, I guess." Zoe tries to shrug it off. "Never been saved by a husband, though. That was different." 

"Oh." Wade rubs the back of his neck. "I just - I thought callin' you my wife would, uh, carry more weight to it. You know, be more convincing to get him to leave you alone. Sure he wouldn't be lookin' to fight an angry husband and all that." He tells Zoe. 

"Right. Right, well, thanks Wade." Zoe lets go of his arm finally, stepping back. 

"No problem." He decides. It's not that big of a deal. Shula Whittaker comes in and Zoe excuses herself from Wade to help the older woman. He watches, but goes back to the table to color with Lizzy for the remainder of his lunch break. When she asks him what happened, he tells her that some people just need to remember their manners. 

He thinks for a second about how he called Zoe his wife without even second guessing himself. She'd be a wonderful wife. She was great to be around and he could really see himself falling for her. If he wasn't leaving, that is.


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the day, Wade’s doing house-calls. He’s never done them before. AnnaBeth drives her personal car, explaining to Wade who they were going to see and why they were needed. They were further out from Bluebell, out in farm country. Close enough to drive into town if they needed, but it was a good forty minutes away. Wade didn’t mind too much. He treats some little kids and administers some flu and booster shots. One of the farmer’s wives is pregnant, so he checks her out, too. 

AnnaBeth’s phone rings when they’re on the road. Since she’s driving, Wade answers it. 

“AnnaBeth’s phone, Dr. Kinsella speaking.” Wade speaks with a stupid grin on his face. 

“Doctor, it’s Tom Long! You’ve gotta get back to the office, there’s an emergency.” Tom Long had a series of odd jobs in town, one of which included being a receptionist when AnnaBeth wasn’t available. 

“Call Dr. Breeland, we’re out by the farms, Tom.” Wade tells the young man calmly.   
“It is Dr. Breeland! I think he’s having a heart attack!” Tom exclaims. Wade curses. 

“AB, hit the gas, we gotta get back to the practice.” 

“Hey, lie down.” Wade bursts through the exam room door, AnnaBeth at his heels. 

“No crap. I'm doomed.” Brick Breeland shakes his head, sitting up on the exam table. Tom Long has the doctor hooked up so his vitals are being read, as well as a blood-pressure machine set up. “Lie down now. You're having a heart attack.” Wade insists, starting to dig through his medical bag. 

“My angina's acting up, is all.You got any nitro pills out there in the back?” Dr. Breeland asks AnnaBeth, but she ignores him to look at Wade.

“No, get a bolus of Lidocaine.” Wade instructs. AnnaBeth rushes to the medicine cabinet. 

“I'm the senior doctor around here, Kinsella.” Breeland grumbles. Wade looks over at his vitals. 

“PVC's are too close to your T-waves. Another 30 seconds you're gonna be in serious trouble.” Wade shakes his head, as Breeland exclaims “Will you get this juvenile away from me?!”

Wade glances at the older doctor. “Listen, if I'm wrong, the Lidocaine won't hurt you. And if you're wrong, you're looking at a ventricular fib.” He informs him. 

“I'm never wrong.” Breeland argues. And promptly, passes out. 

“Shit! All right!” Wade gasps, as does AnnaBeth. “Get that defibrillator over here.” He instructs, AnnaBeth rushing to do what he asked of her. 

“Never wrong, my ass.” Wade sighs as AB hands him the defibrillator machine. With the paddles in hand, Wade speaks again. “Four hundred watts.” He mumbles. And then he raises his voice. “Clear. Clear!” 

He shocks Breeland and the machines start beeping once again. Tom Long looks ready to drop, shaking with anxiety. 

“Heartbeat?” Wade speaks up.   
“Sixty.” AnnaBeth offers. 

“Wow. You mean he actually has one?” Wade scoffs, shaking his head. He looks over at the sleeping, stubborn doctor. “All right, keep him on oxygen and set the Lidocaine drip. Guess I'm staying here tonight.”

After sleeping uncomfortably on a cot in Harley’s old office, Wade wakes up to find some freshly cleaned clothes sitting on top of his desk for him. They’re his clothes - meaning someone went through his suitcase to find him something to wear. He doesn’t care that much, considering the fact he just slept in something far less comfortable. He gets dressed and washes up, dropping into Dr. Breeland’s room to check up on the doctor like he had been every hour in the night. 

Wade shouldn’t be surprised to find the room full with people, but he is. Tom Long, Sheriff Bill, Delma and Ethel Warner, Shelby, and Cody. They’ve brought pies and jams and cakes, all things that Brick shouldn’t have right now. 

“Alright, visiting hours are over. Everyone out.” Wade gestures to the door, listening to them grumble and complain. 

“Oh, don’t listen to Dr. Kinsella, he doesn’t know what it is to be beloved.” Brick says, disappointed with his guests leaving. “You know, Manhattan, it’s called moral support.” He looks at Wade pointedly, which Wade ignores to take hold of the orange colored pie occupying the side table. 

“No, not Ms. Warner’s famous sweet potato pie!” Brick exclaims as Wade dumps it into the garbage. 

“You can complain all you want, Brick. But I saved your life last night. You know it, I know it.” Wade smiles proudly before pointing a finger-gun at the older man. “Gotcha.” 

It’s the middle of the day that Zoe comes into the office. She claims it’s to visit Brick, but she brings Wade a bag of food for lunch. They talk for a long while, stupid smiles never leaving their faces. Wade realizes he’s not ready to leave Bluebell. Not yet. 

So when Zoe goes to talk to Brick, he calls up the office in Florida. 

“Hi, Dr. Stone, please. This is Wade Kinsella calling.”  
“What's this regarding?” The receptionist asks.  
“Well, uh, it's regarding...I'm not gonna be able to make my interview tomorrow, on Friday.”  
“The doctor has a very tight schedule.” She informs him.

“I realize the doctor has a tight schedule. It's just that I'm not gonna be able to leave without...Right, I...I-Is there any way that he can reschedule the appointment for another time?  
All right. Thanks a lot.”

Which means Wade is available to go to the Founder’s Day Festival.


	6. Chapter 6

Wade goes to the festival in town square after work. AnnaBeth’s already there, he spots her right away with Lavon, Zoe and Lizzy. They’re playing one of those games where you knock down the bottles with a softball. Wade’s on the way over there to play a round and win a stuffed animal for Lizzy. 

But Magnolia Breeland grabs his arm and pulls him in the other direction. “Dance with me or I’m dog-food.” She whispers, tugging him towards the dance floor, lined with sparkling lights and an upbeat group blasting music. 

“Uh,” Wade’s about to make a comment when he realizes that the Truit Brothers are eyeing the two of them now. “Let’s go!” Wade decides. They jump along to the beat, practically galloping all over the floor. Eventually Wade steps away to catch his breath. He’s on the sidelines when Wally approaches, George right by his side. 

“What’s going on?” Wade asks, and then Wally pulls out a set of keyes. More specifically, Wade’s keys. 

“Your car is good as new! Or, well, good as new-used. It is quite old.”   
“You fixed my car?” Wade grins. “Oh man, I can’t believe this.” He stares at the keys in disbelief, shaking his head. 

“Dr. Kinsella.” George cuts in. “Well, I just wanted to thank you for saving Brick’s life. Lemon ain’t gonna say it, but, I will, for the both of us. We really, really appreciate you doing that.” George says. “That being said, we down here wouldn’t be able to call ourselves Christians if we didn’t let you go, scott-free. You’re no longer needed in Bluebell. Unless you’d like to be, of course.” He chuckles, reaching forward to shake hands with Wade. 

Wade shakes hands with both George and Wally. He’s glad, and a wide smile stays on his face until they walk away. He spots Zoe on the sidelines, watching everyone dance. It’s a bittersweet feeling. 

He wanted to leave Bluebell. But also, here she was. The music turned slow and he took a step towards her. He bumps her lightly on the shoulder. 

“Wanna dance?”  
“With you?”  
“Seriously, Zo’?”  
“I’d love to.” 

They sway to the music, her cheek resting against his chest, one of his hands is holding hers and the other resting on her lower back. There were many couples, many people dancing. But it felt like it was just the two of them. Nobody else mattered, it was just them. They danced until the music changed, but still remained wrapped up in each other. 

“Zoe Hart, your daughter was putting frogs in the punch bowl. Again.” Zoe’s favorite person, Lemon, has Lizzy by the wrist. Zoe practically jumps away from Wade, twisting to look at her daughter. 

“Lemon.” Zoe reaches for her daughter’s hand. “I’ve told you many times, do not scold my daughter. She is my daughter, I will do the disciplining.” Zoe braces a smile. 

“Frogs, huh?” Wade raises his eyebrows at Lizzy, who doesn’t look one bit sorry for what she supposedly did. The tension between Zoe and Lemon was present, and Wade wasn’t sure if he really wanted to stick around for it. So he speaks up again. “I’ll catch you all later, I think I’m gonna hit the hay.” 

Wade’s walking the streets of Bluebell, heading towards the plantation house when he sees Mayor Lavon Hayes. 

“Hey there, Wade.” Lavon waves him over. Wade nods. “Hey, how are you?”

Lavon walks beside Wade, down the sidewalk of the small town. “Been looking for you. What a great day.” Lavon insists. And, well, Wade agreed. It was a great day. The mayor continues talking. “Boy, this is it. The pinnacle of existence, the brilliance of Bluebell. The sap of life.” He pauses to laugh. “Couldn't be happier if I was twenty.”

“Put on a hell of a festival, Mayor.” Wade agrees, though his time spent there was cut a little short. 

“Ain't you nice to say so.” Lavon hums. “Now, Wade, let’s talk.”

A little confused, Wade glances over at the other man. “About what?”

“Home.” Lavon expresses, like it’s obvious. “Heart. Happiness. You belong here, Wade. It breaks my heart to think of you out there in the land of the lunatics and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you go without holding up a mirror to your face, like that smile of contentment there.” 

It’s hard to deny that Wade had been happy here, though it took some getting used to at first. 

“So see that? See that? That's a face that's liked and loved, face with friends and a future.” 

Lavon goes quiet, letting Wade mull it over. 

“You find some way to force me to stay?” Wade asks, partially joking, but he wouldn’t be exactly surprised if that was the case.

“Wade, I'm everything but devious.” Lavon winks before he walks off, greeting some townsfolk passing by. 

Kids are running in the street with sparklers, riding their bikes in groups, families are all together and everyone is happy. It’s a nice town, it’s a nice night. He had to admit that. Wade walks back to the plantation house, making his way to the gate-house. He takes a second to look at the stars, thinking how he’d never seen so many out at one time. 

He’s in the gate-house, getting some things together to get ready for bed. There’s a knock on the door, he doesn’t even go to answer it, just yelling out “Come in!”. Cause, man, it was Bluebell. There wasn’t any crime. Nothing to be worried about. 

“Hey.” It’s Zoe, standing awkwardly at the door. 

“Zoe, hi.” Wade looks up. “Uh, what’s going on?” He asks, watching her shift her weight from foot to foot. She looks nervous, but Wade doesn’t exactly understand why. 

“I know I shouldn't be doing this because you're leaving the day after tomorrow, but I don't care,  
I can't help it. So, let’s do this.” Zoe says. Wade blinks, his hands resting at his side.

“Do you mean what I think you mean?” He looks at her. He would kick himself if it wasn’t, but he was pretty positive he was right. The sparks between them were undeniable. There was something there, something between them. 

“Come here.” Zoe tells him softly. Wade made his way across the room, hands resting on her hips once he reached her. She stands up on her toes to kiss him. It doesn’t take long to get intense, Wade picking her up with ease and her legs wrapping around his waist. At first he presses her against the wall, then they move to the bed. Hands roaming, skin on skin, their lips swollen from kissing so hard. It's hot and it’s everything he’s wanted since he first laid eyes on her.

Zoe lets out a pleasant sigh, listening to Wade chuckle softly. “That was nice.” She turns to glance at him. Wade presses a kiss to her shoulder, humming in agreement. 

“Pretty good. You wanna go again?” He asks, listening to her laugh now.   
“In a few minutes. I’ve gotta rest.” She tells him. Wade presses his face into the crook of her neck and shoulder, just breathing her in. He wants to pull her closer, even though he’s practically pressed right against her skin. 

She was really something, something Wade wasn’t seeing coming. He wasn’t prepared for her. But, he liked surprises. He liked her. And he had to admit, he liked this crazy little town. He liked that people knew his name, said ‘hello’ to him on the street. He’d even admit, he liked the practice, practically running the place alongside AnnaBeth, since Brick was ‘retired.’ Wade liked old Dr. Harley Wilkes’ office, too. It was lived in, comfy. And, as previously stated, Wade liked Dr. Wilkes’ daughter.

“Why isn’t your last name Wilkes?” 

Zoe lets out a soft breath. “My parents weren’t together when they had me. My mom was actually marrying someone else - Ethan Hart. She tried to pass me off as his daughter, but, he wasn’t stupid. He figured it out.” She huffs. “She got in touch with my real dad, really quick. And they raised me. Not together, but they raised me.” Zoe tells him. “I liked Wilkes, but I feel like Hart is just...supposed to be my last name.” Wade smiles a little before she speaks again. “Before you ask, Lizzy Loralee has my last name ‘cause she’s mine. Nobody else's.” 

There’s something about the statement Wade admired. The idea that she claimed the name for herself was interesting. And maybe proves just how independent she really was. 

“I like that.” He mumbles against her skin. 

“So what’s with the necklace?” She asks, referring to the pendant pressing into her every time Wade tried to practically jump into her body, pulling her just so close to him. Wade twisted, turning to lay on his back. There, on his bare, well defined chest, lay a thick black cotton cord, holding the gold celtic cross pendant. 

“It’s a celtic cross. It was my moms.” Wade answers.   
“You’re religious?”  
“Uh, not really. I mean, my mom was Catholic. That stuff was really important to her.” He shrugs. “That's why my middle name is Christopher. And my brother’s is Matthew. She wanted us to have those religious names.”

Zoe moves to kiss him gently. After, she rests her head against his shoulder. “Tell me about your momma.” 

“Only if you tell me about your daddy. And all the people in those pictures in his office.” Wade wraps an arm around her.   
“We might be here a while.”   
“I don’t have anywhere to be.” 

Zoe tells him about her roots, her uncles and aunts, cousins, grandparents she hadn’t ever met but knew all about. Wade tells her a little about his mom, how she was the best cook in the entire world, always knew the right thing to say, how she was clever as a cat, quick as a whip. 

“You gonna see your daddy while you’re in town?” She asks. Wade shakes his head no. “Earl’s a good guy. He’s just...He’s sick. My dad - Harley always said that, that alcoholism is a disease. And he liked him, too. Harley always checked up on your dad, tried to get him to go to rehab and all of that.” Zoe tells him. Part of him wonders if she’s telling him that to try and get him to visit his dad. Or if she’s just telling him to tell him. 

“Some people are set in their ways. Trust me, Zo’, I’m fine. I don’t wanna meet him. I’m happy with my life without him.” Wade says. “And you know, I’m leaving. I’m not staying, so, there’s no point.” 

Zoe shifts a little, his words bringing her back to reality. Life wasn’t going to continue like this. This was a one time thing. He was leaving. 

“I’ve gotta go, Wade.” She blurts out. “Sorry, uh, I remembered I was supposed to close the Rammer Jammer.” She rushes out, leaving Wade wondering what he said wrong.

But he figured it out rather quickly. He said that he was leaving. But Zoe already knew that, before they slept together. She knew this was a one-time only event. And the other day, she made it clear she wasn’t looking for anything more. But it was easier to say it, wasn’t it? Saying one thing and feeling, or doing another, were completely different.

Her rushing out didn’t make Wade feel like he wanted to stay in town any longer. Really, what was holding him back here? He stared at the ceiling for a moment thinking the night over in his head. He had enough of it - he wasn’t an overthinker. No, he throws off the blankets and rushes to put together a bag containing his clothes and belongings. 

His car was in Wally’s shop, a short walk away from the plantation. Part of Wade felt like waiting for morning to say goodbye to Lavon and AnnaBeth. But he decides against it, figuring that an email might just suffice. So as quietly as he can, he leaves the plantation. 

He walks to the garage. He nearly uses his elbow to bust in the glass of the front door, but he stops as he sees a funny shaped rock, out of place on the smooth top. He picks it up to realize it’s one of those hide-a-key things. So he gets to his car, gets it out of the garage, and he’s speeding out of town. 

In the pitch black, where nobody would see him, he’s off. He tries to ignore the gnawing at his side, the guilt he was starting to feel. He’s on the outskirts of town when he sees a car on the side of the road, trying to flag somebody down. At first, he drove past. 

But in his rearview mirror he realizes who was trying to flag him down, it’s one of the farmers. The one whose wife was pregnant. “Crap.” Wade mumbled before putting the car in reverse to end up in front of the other’s car. He leaves it in the street, figuring that nobody would be driving though town this late at night. 

“Hey, hey, what’s going on?” Wade asks the farmer, who looks more than glad to see him. 

“Doc! Oh, I was on the way to yer office when we had to pull over! My Mabel is havin’ the baby!” 

So Wade goes into the back of the hatchback, where Mabel is clear pain. “Doc, this baby’s coming!” She exclaims. Wade closes his eyes for a second, thinking back to all the deliveries he’s assisted on. 

“Alight. Let’s have this baby then.” 

Mabel’s pushing, screaming her lungs out. Wade, a little nervous, himself, encourages her and yells out, too. They’re all wailing, really, so focused on the labor that they don’t even pay attention to the huge Mack Truck racing down the street, going at full speed...heading straight for Wade’s car. 

“It’s a girl!” Wade exclaims, holding up the crying baby. Just to hear the sound of scraping metal, crushing his car. He doesn’t even look over his shoulder. He knows it’s junk. So they take the farmers car to the practice.


	7. Chapter 7

In the morning, Wade’s talking to the little family and checking up on the baby. They named her Wade, after him. To say he’s shocked is an understatement, but he thanks them nonetheless. 

“Kinsella! Wade, get down here!” The voice that belonged to Dr. Breeland rang out, and Wade takes his time getting down the stairs. He wasn’t rushing, not for this guy. 

He finds Brick in his office, sitting behind his desk and pouring a drink. 

“First breech you ever delivered?” Brick asks. Wade shrugs.  
“First baby I ever delivered, by myself.”

Brick holds up the bottle after nodding. “Whiskey?”

“No thanks.” Wade thought it was a little early for that. “In fact, I wouldn't recommend  
that for you either.” Considering the fact that Brick had a heart-attack a few days ago, that was.

“Well, you're not my doctor and you're not my daughter. So I guess you don't have very much to say about it.” Ah, there was that lovely old Brick Breeland they all loved.

“So, you're not fixin' to stay, huh, Wade? Now that your car's all  
busted and you're feeling pretty good about yourself in general, huh?” Brick hums to himself, watching Wade nod a little.

“Yes. Come here…” He encourages. Wade steps around the desk to look at the cabinet Brick had opened. Inside the cabinet, on every possible space, were photographs. Baby photos, school photos, some in black and white, some in faded color. There were so many.

“I added them up once. Over four hundred babies I delivered in this town over the years.  
Nurse AnnaBeth. She popped right out complete with teeth and hair and bit me.” Brick points. “Lavon. George. Tom Long. My Lemonade, of course.” Brick gives a smile. “Yeah, I gave them birth, saw them through every sneeze and sniffle, and.. sometimes even walked them to the grave site.”

Wade is quiet, looking over every single picture. It’s amazing. Really, really something.

“They're pretty well my portfolio, Wade. That, and an old car, an old house. I wouldn't trade any of them for gold.” Brick nods. “Now, there’s someone waiting in your exam room. Get to it.” 

Wade rolls his eyes, but he goes anyway. He’s leaving soon, his hours are done now. This wasn’t going to be much longer. 

He gets into the exam room to see an old man, white hair and white scruff. He’s in blue jeans and a plaid green shirt. Wade’s never seen him before, he knows that. But something about the man looks familiar. 

“I’m Dr. Kinsella, nice to meet you. What’s bothering you today?” Wade asks, leaning against the counter. The patient is quiet and staring at him intently. Wade shifts a little uncomfortably. “Sir?” 

“Boy, you look just like my Jackie.” The man finally speaks. “Miss. Wilkes said you were in town, I had to -- I had to see for myself.” 

Wade realizes who he’s speaking to. 

“Earl.” He breathes. “Uh - I wasn’t planning on seeing you. I’ve done great for myself, my mom did a great job...Raising me without you.” Wade exclaims, frustration rising in his voice. 

“Me and Jesse? We’re great. He’s a war hero, I’m a damn-doctor. We don’t need to - to pretend like we gotta talk, like we want to have a relationship. You had almost thirty years to come and see me, to reach out.” Wade blurts it all out in anger, eyes wide. 

“And you didn’t. Well, it’s too late, dad.” He huffs. “Oh, and ‘Your Jackie’ died ten years ago. She - She wasn’t your Jackie, she was her own-Jackie. She was my mom.” Wade shakes his head. “Now, is there an issue or are you just here wasting my time?” 

Earl, stunned, shakes his head no. 

“Great.” Wade leaves the room, door slamming behind him. He walks down the hall, ready to leave the practice, when Zoe comes in. 

“I heard what happened last night.” Zoe tells him. “You did great.”

“I didn't know what the hell I was doing.” Wade admits. The anger he had towards his father quickly subsided, all his focus on her. This is it, he’s going to stay. He’s going to stay and fall in love with this girl, with this town, with all of it. Zoe cracks a smile.

“Well, sometimes that's the best way. Um, Wade. There's something that I wanted to say.” She tries, but Wade cuts in.

“Something I wanted to say to you first. Is that okay?”   
“Okay.”

“So, I... I've been doing a lot of thinking about last night, I mean. Last night was really difficult for me. 'Cause you see, everything's all turned around now. You know? I've been thinking about,  
.. about you and me and big cities, small towns and uh…” Wade pauses, but Zoe cuts him off. She shoves an envelope into his hands.

“It's a bus ticket to Pensacola. AB and George paid for it. I mean, we kept you here this long and.. if you have to wait for Wally to fix your car again. Well, you've got Florida waitin' for you.” She smiles sadly, her hands resting on his for a second, hoping he wouldn’t notice the tears in her eyes.

“I've got Lizzy Loralee. It's not fair to you, Wade. You, you're like a big, bright shootin' star and you're right, Wade, you'd burn out here.” She chokes out and she takes off, running as fast as her feet can take her.

“Oh man.” Wade gasps, going to go after her. “Wait, wait, wait. Wait a minute!” He shouts, hoping she wouldn’t get too far. Damn it, he didn’t get to tell her. 

When he steps out of the practice, he’s shocked to see about half the town out front. 

“Well, Wade Kinsella. You have five minutes to say good-bye to everybody.. Sheriff BIll will give you a police escort to the bus-station.” Lavon says. 

Wade makes his way down the line, shaking hands and saying his goodbyes. 

“Well, guess I'll watch after your pig.” Tom Long offers. Wanda at his side, pipes up “Just hope she takes to the farm after living in town like this.” They both pull Wade into a big hug. 

“A lot of folks around here are gonna miss you.” AnnaBeth is closer to the street, by Lavon. She braces a smile, hesitantly reaching for Wade. He hugs her tight before shaking hands with Lavon, then George. Lemon thanks him for helping her Daddy, then Magnolia says that she’ll miss him. 

AnnaBeth walks up to Sheriff Bill’s car with him, making sure he had his packed lunch that Shula made him, and he had his suitcase, and of course, his scrubs. They decided that he could keep them, afterall, Brick never wore them.

“I don’t mean me, I’m not going to miss you.” AnnaBeth adds. “But a lot of folks will.” 

Wade says goodbye to everyone, but not to the one person he wants to.


	8. Chapter 8

Sheriff Bill takes Wade to the bus station. The three hour bus ride from Mobile to Pensacola. Wade is antsy, he is bouncing his leg, patting his pockets. He takes out his phone and tries to distract himself by playing a crossword puzzle, then tries to listen to his classic rock playlist, but really, the only thing he could think of is going back to Bluebell. But the rational part of his brain is still insisting that the town was only a rest stop, not the destination of the journey. 

So he goes to Pensacola. He meets with Dr. Stone, the head doctor in the office. He informs Wade that normally, they would’ve replaced him by now (You couldn’t just delay a high profile job like this) if it wasn’t for an “astounding” phone call from Dr. Breeland. Wade is a little more than shocked (and a little mortified at the idea of Brick speaking to Dr. Stone). But overall, is thankful. Dr. Stone said that Brick insisted on Wade keeping this position, that passing on him would be a grave mistake. 

So Wade works. He works his ass off. And while he’s not working, he’s running. Literally, running miles. If he just keeps running, maybe he won’t think too much. 

(But he still reads The Blawker to stay up to date on BlueBell drama) 

He’s about to go out for lunch when the receptionist calls him over. 

“ Some girl called for you. Said you'd know who it was.” She says, smacking her gum. She reaches in her desk drawer, grabbing a post-it note. “Said she’d meet you at this bar. Like, as if you're gonna rush right over there. Right.” She rolls her eyes, handing Wade a post-it with the address on it. “Totally unbelievable Southern accent. An actress, I'll bet.” The receptionist scoffs. Wade practically runs to the bar.

It’s closer than he expected it to be, but he’s also sort of thankful. He’s surprised to see his car - yes, the one that the mack-truck destroyed, and Wally insisted he could fix. It’s in the parking-lot, looking brand-spankin’ new. 

Wade enters the bar, eyes trailing the place. Zoe had to be here, didn’t she? Who else would…

“Magnolia?” Wade blinks, spotting the teenager tucked into a booth, sipping on a soda in a fancy glass. She’s clearly looking for Wade, and he’s clearly wishing she was someone else. 

(I mean, she was a kid!) 

“Well, I had to give it a shot, you know, I mean.” The young blonde shrugs. “I just thought just in case... Guess not.” 

That he was into her? Brick would’ve shot him, Lemon would’ve chopped off his head. 

“You, uh... drove all this way just to bring me my car?” Wade stammers, sliding into the booth across from her. 

“Sort of!” Magnolia tells him. “Well, it gave me a great excuse to get the hell out of BlueBell. I mean, things were bad before. But...since you left, they got -”

“Positively stagnant.” Lemon cuts in, George at her side. “Mag, move in.” She brushes at her sister, who moves. Wade awkwardly moves in for George to join him on this side of the booth. 

“How’s your dad doing?” Wade asks the sisters, deciding that was safe to ask. 

“The same.” Magnolia answers. 

“How about Lavon?” 

“The same.” George tells him. 

“What about AnnaBeth?” Wade asks. Lemon rolls her eyes. 

“Why don’t you ask us about Zoe?” She demands. 

“No - nah, uh.” Wade stammers, caught off guard. “I mean what is there to ask, really?” 

Lemon stares at him. He tries to stare back, but eventually, he looks down at his lap. It goes quiet, George looking down at the lunch menu, and Magnolia looking anywhere but their table. What was there to ask? Wade left, Zoe stayed, and they weren’t together. Wade couldn’t ask if she was holding out for him, he wouldn’t expect her to be. But, what comes next pretty much answers that question. 

“Wade, are you coming back with us to BlueBell or not?” Lemon raises her eyebrows. 

It was all she needed to ask. In a few hours, Wade’s back at the plantation house. He gets a bouquet of flowers from the Dixie Stop, Frank greeting him with a big smile as soon as he walks into the grocery. 

Wade doesn’t go to the practice, not to the Rammer Jammer, not to see Lavon at the main house. No, first he goes to the carriage house. And Zoe’s there, on her porch swing, reading the same novel she was the first time he saw her there. 

“You steal those flowers?” She asks him. Wade glances down at the bouquet and shrugs as he climbs the steps. 

“Well, I heard they were wilting away in this one-flower town, so…” He trails off, clearly joking. Zoe crosses her arms. 

“And you thought you’d come back and try to save them them.” She finishes. 

“Something like that.” Wade admits, joining her on the porch swing. She shifts away instantly. 

“What makes you think the flowers even want you?” She shakes her head. She was the bouquet in this hypothetical scenario. Wade places the bunch of flowers on her lap. 

“Because I love her.” He rests his hand on her knee. Zoe turns to look at him, her breath catching before she speaks. 

“Wade - go, go back to Florida.” She places her hand over his own, his eyes meeting hers. Wade leans forward to press his lips against hers for a moment before pulling back. She rests her forehead against his, trying to fight a small smile from forming as he speaks again.

“I don’t want Florida. Zoe, I want you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> epilogue coming soon.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long! this story is taking a bit longer to wrap up than i planned, but, i'm enjoying it a lot.

Wade takes up in BlueBells practice. He buys a house in town - four bedrooms, big dining room, a wrap-around porch. He has a huge kitchen, not that he's a great cook. Zoe tries to teach him every once in a while. But it never sticks.

It takes six months for her and Lizzy to officially move, after staying practically since he moved in. 

He loves Lizzy like his own daughter. It came naturally, just like loving Zoe. He watched cartoons with her, read her books in silly voices. He even buys her a bike, which Zoe deems too big of a gift. “She deserves it.” Wade decides. He liked being a father figure, but he never really thought he was taking the place of her father. He wasn’t sure how exactly Lizzy viewed him and he never wanted to push it.

Still, one late night when he's lounging on the couch, nursing a beer and watching the Yankees game on TV, Lizzy comes down the stairs. 

“Lizzy Loralee, go back to bed.” 

“No! I'm not tired.” 

Wade gives her a look, his eyes widening. She returns it. Wade sighs. “If you don’t go back to bed, I’ll tell Wanda and Tom not to let you pet Lazlo and Jasmine.” He warns, referring to the baby goat and his former pig. 

“No!” Lizzy gasps. 

“Oh yes!” Wade says in mock anger. He’s not surprised when she climbs on the couch beside him. But he is surprised when she kisses his cheek and says “Night-night, Daddy.”

When Zoe comes home, he still has a stupid smile on his face. 

They’ve been dating for a year and a half when Zoe gets pregnant. It wasn’t planned, and they were both shocked. But Wade would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited. 

Their friends come over every weekend to help build the nursery. 

“So, when are you gonna marry her?” George asks, painting a portion of the wall the shade of blue Zoe picked out. 

“Yeah! Join the club, y’all already got a baby coming.” Lavon joins in. Wade sips his beer and takes a seat on the hardwood floor. 

“I don’t know. We never really talked about it. And besides, I don’t believe in marriage.” He admits. It falls quiet before George chuckles. Even Lavon laughs.

“I’m not joking.” Wade announces, confused. “You’ve gotta marry her, man. It’s the Southern Way.” Lavon claims. Wade rolls his eyes, brushing it off. If Zoe wanted to get married, she would’ve said so. At least, that’s what he thought. 

Until Zoe came marching up to him in the middle of the day, in the practice, while he’s with a patient. 

“Now, Colby, follow the light with your -- Zoe?” Wade gets cut off, watching his pregnant girlfriend throw open the door. “I’m with a patient.” Wade gestures to Colby, quickly rushing out a few apologies to the teenage football player. 

“You told George you didn’t want to marry me?” Zoe yells at him. 

“What? Baby, he told you that?” Wade turns to face her, a little frightened to look down at her, the fury burning in her eyes could put a hole in his head. 

“He told Lemon, who told me! Do you  **know** how ridiculous it is to have someone you barely like tell you that your boyfriend, the father of your unborn child, doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life with you!?” 

Zoe looks up at him, her eyebrows furrowed and that vein in her forehead bulging out. She made the same expression when she was reading a mystery novel, or when she was figuring out a puzzle. He usually found it adorable, and he probably would've now. That is, if she wasn’t angry with him. She also looked ready to hit him, so it wasn’t that cute. 

“I didn’t - I didn’t say I didn’t want to marry you, Zo’, that’s -” Wade tried. 

“Should I come back later?” Colby cuts in, reminding the couple that he was still there, looking between them. 

“No.” Wade said at the same time Zoe said “Yes.” Leaving the teenager confused on what to do. Wade groaned, reaching forward to grab on to Zoe’s arm. “Colby, excuse us for a minute.” Wade pulls his girlfriend out of the exam room with him and into the hallway. 

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to marry you, Zoe.” Wade says in a hushed voice. “I said that I didn’t believe in marriage.” 

“Oh, that just sounds so,  _ so  _ much better!’ Zoe gasps. From behind the receptionist desk, AnnaBeth tries to pretend like she wasn’t listening in.

“I didn’t know that this was such a big deal to you, you never brought it up!” Wade argues, quick to try and make it  **not** all his fault. He was a doctor, not a damn mind-reader! Zoe clenches her jaw. 

“It wasn’t. Until I met you.” Her voice is soft, and hurt, and she sighs before she turns on her heels, leaving the office. Wade’s at a loss for words. 

“Aw, Wade!” AnnaBeth gushes. “You have to admit, that was really sweet. Like out of a movie.” She says from behind the desk. Wade takes in a deep breath before speaking again. “I’ve got to finish examining Colby. I think he has a concussion.” 

After instructing Colby to get some rest and writing a note to excuse him from football practice, Wade retreats into his private office, Harley’s old office. It stayed the same, but with a few additions, of course. A photograph of his mom, young and beautiful. Another with her, him, and his brother. Lizzy’s latest school picture. A photo of Wade, Zoe, and Lizzy in his lap in front of the lit Christmas Tree in town square. Another photo of him and Lizzy, in a frame that read “Daddy’s Girl!”. A romantic photograph of Wade and Zoe taken at Lavon and AnnaBeth’s wedding. They all make him realize how lucky he’s got it. 

When he first came into town and saw all of Harley’s photos, he never thought he’d have a family. He never thought he’d have a picture-perfect family. But he did - this was proof of it. 

“Knock-knock.” AB opens the door with a mug of coffee in her hands. “You okay?” She asks as Wade takes the coffee and nods. “Yeah, AB.” Wade looks away from the pictures to sit on top of his desk. 

“You know I wanna spend forever with Zoe, right?” He asks.

AnnaBeth nods. “I do. And I think Zoe knows that, too.” 

Wade places the mug on the desk next to his lap, and dramatic as ever, tosses his head back to look at the ceiling and groan. “I don’t get it!” He exclaims. “What’s the big deal? Why do we have to get married then?” 

AnnaBeth takes a seat in front of the desk, crossing her legs. “Wade, a wedding ain’t you proving you love her - We all know you do.” She starts. “It’s about showin’ the world, and God, that you’re it for each other, you don't want nobody else. It’s showing that you love her - you, the big city doctor from up North loves our small town, homegrown Zoe - and you wanna be faithful to her, forever.” She smiles as she adds. “And we’d love to see y’all get hitched, have a big party, you know?” 

AnnaBeth’s words echo in his head. After looking around the office, thinking about his future,  _ their  _ future, and all of it - He decides, what the hell? He’d crawl to the ends of the Earth for Zoe, he’d give his whole life up for her. (He kind of did, too). Of course he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and he wouldn’t mind showing her, or the entire world, that. So he calls up his brother, surprised that Jesse picked up after one ring. 

“Yo, Wade.” “Hey Jesse. I need a favor.” 

“Anything. What’s up?” Jesse’s voice is the right amount of upbeat, Wade knows he caught him in a good mood. A pause, Wade thinks for a second. “Jesse, you’re not seeing anyone, right?” 

His brother lets out a big sigh. “Dude, no offence, but that chick you and Zoe tried to set me up with the last time I -” Jesse starts, referring to the disastrous blind date Zoe set him up on the last time he was in town. 

“No no, i’m not getting you to date anyone, Jess. I just need to know, are you serious with a girl now?” Wade asks. 

“Uh, not  _ serious-serious _ , not like, going steady -” Jesse starts before Wade cuts in. “Are you using momma’s engagement ring anytime soon?” Wade rolls his eyes. 

“Nope. No, I’m not. Why?” Jesse asks. Wade can practically hear the wheels turning in his older brother’s head -- why else would Wade ask for the ring? “You’re gonna propose to Zoe?! Dude, why didn’t you say that?” Jesse laughs. “I’ll bring the ring when i head up there in a few days, alright? Alright, see you then.” 

When Wade gets home, he finds his girls in the kitchen. Lizzy is sitting at the table, practicing writing her name on loose leaf paper over and over again. In big, messy, sort of backwards (but legible!) letters. ELIZABETH LOR A LEE HART. Zoe is stress cooking in front of the stove. 

"What are you making?" Wade asks his girlfriend, dropping a kiss onto Lizzy's head as he walks past her. 

"Latkes." Zoe answers, not looking up at him. She stares intently at the bubbling oil, crossing her arms over her shirt and over her belly. It's his shirt, that his brother jokingly bought him, that read  _ I LOVE MY ALABAMA BOY! _ and a pair of old baggy sweatpants. Her hair is pulled into a neat french braid, resting on her shoulder. Ever since entering the third trimester of her pregnancy, she decided she was never going to wear jeans again. (While she was pregnant, at least). So sweatpants, leggings, yoga pants, joggers and all stretchy pants were what shes wore. 

"It's not hanukah." Wade frowns, confused as he leans against the counter. She still doesnt look at him. 

"Oh, so I need an excuse to cook dinner now?" Zoe huffs. "You didn't even give me an excuse for why you don't want to marry me." 

"I didn't - Zoe!" Wade huffs, exasperated. He puts a hand on his hip. "Can we please talk about this?" 

The potato pancakes are nice and golden brown, so Zoe fishes them out of the pan with a slotted spoon to rest on a paper-towel covered plate. 

"There's nothing to talk about. You don't want to get married, I do, and I guess I'm going to have to accept that the love of my life is comfortable living in  _ sin _ , and let the whole town talk about us." Zoe hasn't turned to face him.

"And, you know, I love you. And part of loving you is putting up with your ridiculous shit. Like leaving your socks everywhere and not wanting to get married!" Zoe exclaims. She puts the last latke on the plate with emphasis. 

Lizzy Loralee is eerily quiet at the table, most likely watching her parents with wide eyes. 

"Zoe, I really want to talk to you about this." Wade insists. Zoe shakes her head, taking hold of a cooled off potato pancake. As she munches, she moves to leave the kitchen and go towards the living room, then up to the stairs to go to the bedroom. 

Once she's gone, Lizzy looks at Wade. " _ Oooooh _ , you're in trouble!" 

Wade tries to remember that she’s in  _ kindergarten _ , so he sticks his tongue out at her before he goes up the stairs to follow the love of his life. 


	10. Chapter 10

“Zoe, let’s talk.” “No, I don’t want to.” She goes to shut the door, but he’s quick to put his hand out to stop it from shutting in his face. “Wade!” She huffs. 

Wade pushes open the door and walks past her to take a seat on the bed, sitting with his legs criss-crossed. Zoe takes a moment to join him. 

“First off, remind me to kick George’s ass next time we see him.” He reaches for her hand, and begrudgingly she lets him take it as she cracks a small smile. “It wasn’t his place, he stepped out of line.” Wade adds. 

Zoe looks up from their interlaced hands to meet his eyes. “Actually, he just told Lemon. They’re married, so, no secrets...It was her that was out of line.” 

“Well, I can’t exactly kick Lemon. I think she’d kill me.” Wade almost laughs. “But, baby, I’ve done some thinking...Maybe, you know, we should get married.” 

Zoe’s eyes widened. 

“You’re not just saying that to make me happy, right? Just to shut me up about it? Because I’d rather not get married if you don’t want to, I don’t want to do it if you really --” She starts to ramble, but he cuts her off with a soft kiss. 

“No. I just never thought about it. But now I did.” His nose brushes against hers. “And I wanna make you my wife. Because I love you, Zoe. I love you, and I love Lizzy, and I love our little boy. I want to spend my entire life with you guys.” He says in a near whisper. 

“Oh, Wade.” Zoe laughs. “I probably should’ve told you I wanted to get married, too.” 

“Yeah, probably.” He agrees, letting her shove his shoulder playfully. He chuckles as she shifts on the bed. 

“Well, next time, I’ll be sure to let you know.” Zoe moves to lay on her back, letting go of his hand to make herself more comfortable. 

“Next time?” Wade raises his eyebrows as he goes to get out of their bed. He still had to eat and was probably in charge of putting Lizzy to bed, since Zoe appeared to be settled for the night. 

“Mhm. In the next life.” She nods, matter of factly. “Because I love you, Wade Kinsella. My soul will always find yours, no matter what universe we’re in.” 

“Soulmates, huh?” Wade just presses a kiss to her forehead. “I bet you're right.” 

He’s going to just keep quiet about not being sure about soulmates existing. 

It’s a few days later when Zoe comes into the practice. This time, he’s not with a patient, but just sitting in his office - Harley’s old office. 

He hears her before he sees her. 

“Is Wade in?” She asks AnnaBeth. 

“In his office. You okay?” AB asks, gentle as ever. They were really lucky to have a friend like her. 

Zoe doesn’t answer, but she pushes open the door to his office and plops into one of the comfortable chairs. 

“Hi.” Wade glances up from the patient file he was looking over to see her. She’s got a funny look on her face, similar to one that she had when she was confused. 

“Are you constipated?” Is the first thing he asks. Zoe groans. “Shut up! Wade, I’m thinking.” 

“You came into my office…?” Wade says, confused. But he shrugs. Maybe she just needed to be someplace quiet. So he continues to look over the file, reading test results. And then she speaks up. 

“I don’t want to get married.” She blurts. 

Wade nearly falls over. “You - What? Zoe, what? What happened to -” 

“No, no, no, that came out wrong. I do want to marry you.” 

“Okay…” Wade furrows his eyebrows, not following where she was going with this. He loved her, and he wouldn’t be mad at her if she changed her mind. But he wouldn’t exactly be thrilled either. 

“I want to marry you, but I need you to do something for me first.” Zoe tries. 

“And that is?”

“Agree to it!” She exclaims. 

“Not until you tell me what I’m doing first!” Wade shoots back, shaking his head. 

“Wade!” She huffs. “Just agree to it. I need you to do one teeny tiny thing for me.” 

Wade stares at her for a second before nodding. “Okay. Alright. What am I doing?” 

“You’re going to talk to Earl.” She says. Instantly, Wade starts going “No, no, no.” nearly sounding like Lavon.

“You already agreed!” Zoe reminds him. 

“You tricked me. I’m not doing that, Zoe. I’ve been here for over two years now, I’m not going to talk to that man. I don’t want to.” Wade hadn’t even thought about his father in months, the idea of talking to him just didn’t sit right with Wade. 

“Wade, hear me out. Okay? He came by the Rammer Jammer, and he didn’t order any alcohol, and he was...He didn’t see me, Shelley’s the one who served him.” Zoe tells him, adding “Just cheese fries and a glass of water while he read the paper.”

“Okay, great. Why do you want me to see him?” Wade frowned. A dramatic sigh comes from his love.

“Because I saw him and I was thinking about how I don’t have my dad anymore. My dad loved being a grandpa to Lizzy Loralee. And Lizzy doesn’t have any relationship with any family besides us.” Zoe still wasn’t close with her mother, their relationship was eternally rocky. 

“You don’t have your mom anymore, I don’t have my dad, and we both know Candice isn’t going to be involved.” Zoe met his eyes. Wade glanced down instead. “I would like our son to have at least one grandparent, Wade. For the sake of your son, please, think about it.” 

“Dammit Zoe.” Wade sighed. She couldn’t do that, could she? He couldn’t say no to his unborn child. Especially when it came to family. Maybe it was time for Wade to do some growing up. 

“I’ll talk to Earl.” He says after a moment. “And I’ll take Jesse with me. We both should talk to him, I guess.” He decides, thinking it might be easier with his brother by his side. “Don’t get your hopes up, though. I don’t know how he’s gonna react. Or how it’s gonna go.” 

Zoe nods. 

“But I’m doing it for you. And for Lizzy Loralee and our boy.” Wade tells her. “Now, is the wedding still on?” 

“It was never off, you dummy.” Zoe announces, as if it's obvious. 

The plan is to take a visit to Earl’s place when Jesse comes into town. And in this visit, Wade was going to get his mother’s wedding ring so he could propose to Zoe. It’s a little worrisome, for more than one reason. One being he’s going to talk to his father. The other being that he has no idea how he’s going to propose to Zoe. He wasn’t bad in the romance department, in fact he was pretty good. He’d been called cheesy a number of times. But a proposal? He wasn’t sure how to go about it. Wade just knew he wanted it to be perfect. Because Zoe deserved perfect. 

So Wade had picked Jesse up at the airport early in the morning. They headed to the Rammer Jammer afterwards for lunch. 

“So you’re taking me with you? Wade, I really don’t want to do this.” Jesse complained as Wade sipped his water through the straw. Zoe is collecting their orders from the kitchen and makes her way in their direction. 

“I don’t want to either. Zoe’s making me.” Wade reminds his older brother, shifting further into his side of the booth, in hopes that he could get Zoe to rest. “Honey, please sit down.” He suggests as she reaches them. It wasn’t good for her to be on her feet all day. She places a hot plate in front of Jesse, then the other in front of Wade. And she didn’t sit. 

“You’re doing this so our son has a grandparent. And I think that it would be good for both of you.” Zoe insists. Jesse rolls his eyes, arguing “We’re fine without him”. Under the table, Wade kicks his brother in the shin. 

“We’re doing it, Jess.” Wade says. “Zoe refuses to marry me if we don’t.” 

Zoe nods. “It’s true.” 

Jesse picks at a french fry, looking between his brother and future sister-in-law. “How’d I get roped into this?” He mumbles. But any other conversation falls flat as Lizzy Loralee comes running into their corner.

“Mommy, mommy, mommy!” She exclaims. “Can I go play with Elijah?” She asks, practically bouncing up and down. “Is it okay with his mommy?” Zoe asks, and even though Lizzy says yes, she makes a point to look at Elijah’s mom on the other side of the restaurant. She nods and holds up her thumb, while Elijah watches carefully. 

“Then it’s okay, baby. Just for a few hours, okay?” Zoe nods. Lizzy squeaks in excitement. “Thank you mommy!” She hugs Zoe’ before climbing up to hug her uncle. “See you later, Uncle Jesse.” She moves then to plant a kiss on Wade’s cheek. “Bye-bye, Daddy.” 

They watch her go off. Zoe goes back to work, Wade and Jesse finish eating. When they’re all done, wade decides they should go to Earl’s house before it got too late. 

On the drive over, Jesse looks out the window. “I can’t believe you’re gonna get married. You’re a dad now.” Jesse says it, his voice still sounding sort of shocked, though this has been reality for quite some time now. “I think getting stuck in this place turned out pretty good for you, man.” 

Wade only smiles.

Before they get out of the car, Jesse hands Wade the small velvet box that was buried deep in his pocket. 

“Mom’s rings.” Jesse says simply. The two brothers look at the engagement and wedding rings for a few seconds. “She’d really like Zoe.” Jesse adds. 

“I know.” Wade shuts the box. “She’d get a kick out of her, I know it.” And then he puts the box into his pants pocket, not wanting to leave it anywhere. 

“I didn’t know you made house calls.” Earl comments, confused to see Wade at his door. 

“I do.” Wade nods. Jesse nudges him. “But, uh.” Wade starts again. “We’re not here for a doctor’s visit, Earl. I’m here for a personal visit. This is my older brother --” 

“Jesse.” Earl cuts in. 

“Right. “Yep.” 

It’s quiet for a second. 

“Well, come on in, boys. What brings you here?” Earl invites them in. 

Wade and Jesse are sat at a small circular table, each with a glass of lemonade provided by their father. It’s not something either brother really ever expected to happen. 

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, Earl, but I’m with Zoe now.” Wade starts to explain, fingers wrapping around the cold glass. 

“Zoe?” Earl repeats, confused. 

“Uh, yeah, Zoe. You know her, Dr. Harley’s daughter? She manages the Rammer Jammer?” Wade tries to jog the old man’s memory. 

Like a light-bulb turning on, Earl slips into a small smile. “Oh, Miss. Wilkes. Yes, that’s nice you’re together.” 

Wade wants to correct that Zoe’s last name wasn’t Wilkes, and it had never been Wilkes, but he decides that it’s good enough that Earl remembers her. So he takes it. 

“Yeah. We’ve been together for a while now, Earl.” Wade swallows, feeling quite a bit of nerves. In his head, it wasn’t going to be this hard. There was a reason he hadn’t wanted to do this. “I’m going to marry her. We’re...We’re having a baby together. A boy.” He announces, as Jesse loudly sips his lemonade through the straw. “I’m going to be a father. So maybe it’s time I should try and get to know my own.” 


End file.
